Army may never learn motive of Fort Hood rampage


 FORT HOOD, Texas
(AP) Despite evi-
dence that suggests
Spc. Ivan Lopez had an
argument before going
on a shooting rampage,
investigators said they
may never determine
what compelled the
Fort Hood soldier to
kill three soldiers and
wound 16 others before
taking his own life.
 Lt. Gen. Mark Milley,
Fort Hood's command-
er, said that an "escalat-
ing argument" precip-
itated the assault. He
declined to discuss the
cause of the argument
but said investigators


believe Lopez made no
effort to target specific
soldiers even though
at least one of the sol-
diers shot was involved
in the dispute.
 Milley would not say
whether those involved
were among the dead
or wounded, or how
many shooting victims
had been a part of the
argument.
 "There was no pre-
meditated targeting of
an individual," he said.
 However, the military
has not established
a "concrete motive"
for Spc. Ivan Lopez's
rampage, said Chris


Grey, a spokesman
for the Army's
Criminal Investigation
Command based in
Quantico, Va.
 And because Lopez
is dead, he added,
"the possibility does
exist that we may never
know why the alleged
shooter did what he
did."
 Three of the wound-
ed are still hospitalized
in fair condition at
Scott & White Memorial
Hospital in nearby
Temple.
 Investigators now
believe Lopez's mental
condition was not the


"direct precipitating
factor" in the shooting,
Milley said Friday, one
day after he said that
condition appeared to
be an underlying factor
in the attack.
 The crime scene
encompasses two city
blocks, Grey said.
 Lopez initially began
firing near an inter-
section, then traveled
to several nearby
buildings, went inside
and kept firing. While
driving to those loca-
tions in his vehicle, he
fired indiscriminately
at other soldiers, Grey
said.


This undated photo provided by Glidden Lopez shows Army
Spc. Ivan Lopez. Lopez killed three people and wounded 16
others in a shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, on Wednesday, before
killing himself. Investigators believe his unstable mental health
contributed to the rampage.


Retired general taking another look at nuke corps


 WASHINGTON (AP) -
Service leaders took an
assessment last year of the
nuclear Air Force as an
 encouraging
 thumbs-up.


 wascsufraing
 Yet, in the
 months that
 followed,
 signs
 emerged that
 the nuclear
 WELCH missile corps
 was suffering
from breakdowns in
discipline, morale, training


and leadership.
 The former Air Force
chief of staff who signed
off on the 2013 report is
now being asked to dig for
root causes of problems
that Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel says threaten
to undermine public trust
in the nation's nuclear
arsenal.
 The Air Force may have
taken an overly rosy view
of the report it was not
uniformly positive by a
Pentagon advisory group


headed by retired Gen.
LarryWelch. The study
described the nuclear
Air Force as "thoroughly
professional, disciplined"
and performing effectively.
 The inquiry itself may
have missed signs of the
kinds of trouble docu-
mented in recent months
in a series of Associated
Press reports. In April
2013, the month the Welch
report came out, an Air
Force officer wrote that
the nuclear missile unit at


Minot Air Force Base, N.D.,
was suffering from "rot,"
including lax attitudes and
a poor performance by
launch officers on a March
2013 inspection.
 An exam-cheating
scandal at a nuclear
missile base prompted the
Air Force to remove nine
midlevel commanders and
accept the resignation of
the base's top commander.
Dozens of officers impli-
cated in the cheating face
disciplinary action, and


some might be kicked
out, the Air Force said last
week.
 Welch began the new
Hagel-directed review
in early March, teaming
with retired Navy Adm.
John C. Harvey, who was
not involved in the earlier
reviews but has extensive
nuclear experience. Much
rides on what they find,
not least because Hagel
and the White House want
to remove any doubt about
the safety and security of


the U.S. arsenal and the
men and women entrust-
ed with it.
 Hagel's written in-
struction to Welch and
Harvey in February said
they should examine the
nuclear mission in both
the Air Force and the Navy,
focusing on "personnel,
training, testing, command
oversight, mission perfor-
mance and investment"
and recommend ways to
address any deficiencies
they identify.


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NYC police: Car flips into Queens creek, killing 4


 NEWYORK(AP)- A
car heading down a dark,
dead-end street in a deso-
late industrial area flipped
over a wooden curb into a
creek, killing four passen-
gers, police said Saturday.
 The driver escaped
serious injury and told
officers at the scene in the
Astoria section of Queens
that the four were trapped
in the submerged car.
 Police said the 2009
Honda Accord tumbled
into Steinway Creek, a


trash-strewn inlet off the
East River, just after
10:30 p.m. Friday.
 Fire department divers
pulled the four victims
from the car. Police iden-
tified them as 21-year-old
Darius Fletcher, 19-year-
old Jada Monique Butts,
19-year-old Crystal Gravely
and 20-year-old Jaleel
Furtado. They were pro-
nounced dead at hospitals.
 Several of the victims'
family members visited the
scene Saturday morning.

I NATION
Obama: Republican
 budget would
 shrink opportunity
 WASHINGTON (AP) -
 President Barack Obama
 says the Republican budget
proposal would shrink
opportunity and make it
tougher for hard-working






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The sobbing stepmother
of one was comforted by
police.
 The 20-year-old driver
was listed in stable condi-
tion at Elmhurst General
Hospital. Police did not
immediately identify him.
 Police towed the car
from the creek Saturday
morning and placed it
on the pavement, wheels
up, just a few feet from
the water's edge. They
then flipped it back on its
wheels and drove it away


Americans to get ahead.
 In his weekly radio
and Internet address,
Obama says House Budget
Chairman Paul Ryan's bud-
get gives massive tax cuts
to the rich while cutting
programs like education
and research that spur job
growth. The president says
Republicans would also
take away insurance from
7 million who enrolled
through his health care law
and would gut financial
protections.
Ex-Ill. casino boat
 fetches $600,000
 at auction
 WOOD RIVER, Ill. (AP) -
The former riverboat that
once served as the Casino


 Take Care of






 '"THE



 SKIN"

 YOU'RE in
(Left to Right)
Stephen A. Spencer, MD Samantha M. Bono, PA
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on a flatbed truck.
 Police divers helping
with the towing operation
were hosed off by firefight-
ers when they emerged
from the creek, a foul-look-
ing inlet peppered with
trash and mud.
 Police visited a car
service business that has
security cameras trained in
the direction the car would
have been going in hopes
of learning the vehicle's
speed in the seconds
before it crashed.


Queen along East St. Louis'
riverfront is under new
ownership.
 The St. Louis Post-
Dispatch reports that
federal marshals on Friday
auctioned off the vessel
called White Star One for
$600,000.
 Caterer recalls
 meals served on
 British Airways
 CHICAGO (AP)- A
Chicago-based airline ca-
tering firm has announced
the recall of 41 appetizer
meals prepared for three
British Airways flights that
flew out of Miami.
 Flying Food Group
announced Friday that its
Char Grilled Asparagus
and Grapefruit Appetizer
meals may have been
contaminated with Listeria
monocytogenes, which
can cause serious and
sometimes fatal infec-
tions in young children,
the elderly and others
with weakened immune
systems.
 The meals were pre-
pared at the company's
Miami facility and served
on British Airways flights
0204, 0206 and 208, all of
which departed Miami on
March 19.
 11-year-old
 girl killed in
 Philadelphia
 PHILADELPHIA (The
Philadelphia Inquirer) -
An 11-year-old girl was
shot and killed, possibly
by another child, inside
a house on the 3800
block of Wallace Street
in Philadelphia Saturday
morning, police said.
 The young girl was
struck once in the right
shoulder area around
9:53 a.m., police said, and
was pronounced dead
at 10:29 a.m. Police had
rushed her to Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia,
authorities said.


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The Sun /Sunday, April 6,2014


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