Fort Hood shooting leaves 4 dead

(Vatican Radio) Investigators delved into the background Thursday of a U.S. soldier who killed three people and himself a day earlier at an Army base in Fort Hood, Texas, where another deadly rampage took place in 2009. The shooting on Wednesday also wounded 16 others, and the soldier involved had been treated for depression and anxiety.

“The reaction is one of shock,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. “Certainly, the first time this happened at fort hood it was totally unexpected. It was a place where people presume security…There is probably also…anger, especially where a military person has his or her family, there is obviously immediately that concern for the welfare of those people who are closest to you.”

He told Vatican Radio the military takes mental illness seriously.

“It is certainly being dealt with,” he said. “Obviously the military is still place where there is still a stigma attached to mental illness, especially if you are worried about continuing with your career.”

Archbishop Broglio said the military chaplain plays a vital role in these situations.

“He is the one person on base you can talk to who is not required to make any sort of report about what he learns, so he can be a great source of relief; he can be a source of comfort,” he said. “He can also be the person that perhaps guides someone who is in difficult straits.”

Listen to the full interview by Charles Collins with Archbishop Broglio: