Fort Bliss shooting (Updated)
About 3 PM local time yesterday a gunman apparently shot two employees at the AAFES convenience store on Fort Bliss, TX. Some news reports are reporting that two people including the gunman are dead;
The Fort Bliss commander says two people are dead after a shooting at a small grocery store on the West Texas Army post.
Col. Joseph A. Simonelli Jr. declined to discuss details or identify the victims of the Monday afternoon incident.
Simonelli said the area was roped off for an FBI investigation, but the sprawling facility next to El Paso was never under lockdown.
Others report that only the gunman was killed.
I didn’t write anything yesterday about this because details were so sparse. That hasn’t changed today. When, in your memory, has the media had not even the shooter’s name let alone the victims at this point? In fact, it is hard to find any reports online – most are just reprints of the AP story. So I wonder what’s really going on here.
UPDATE: Someone sent us a link to the Fort Bliss Facebook page which has the FBI press release;
The shooter, has been identified as 63 year old Steven Kropf a retired Army Sergeant, of El Paso, Texas., shot two female civilian employees at the Shopette Convenience Store located at 1333 Casssidy Road. 44 year old Bettina Maria Goins of El Paso, Texas was pronounced dead and the other victim remains hospit…alized with serious injuries, her identity will not be released due to privacy concerns.
It is not known whether the shooter had any relationship with either victim. The motive for the shooting is still under investigation. This was an isolated criminal incident and not terrorism related. The FBI has primary jurisdiction when a civilian crime occurs on a federal reservation. The FBI will con…tinue to work the investigation with Ft. Bliss Criminal Investigation Division and Military Police.
Category: Military issues
After going to the Joint Reserve Base in Ft Worth last Friday, I noticed that there was a small sign saying that no guns were allowed on base. Typical of most bases. I guess those signs and the warnings are real effective…. [/sarcasm] It’s typical of today’s murderers; find a place that bans guns and wreak havoc without much consequence, at least for the first few minutes. I sure would like to know more about this, but the media & the military are suspiciously quiet on the matter.
Because of the silence, you can be sure it was not a middle aged white male who belonged to the Tea Party and used an evil “assault” weapon. If It was any of those things, the headlines would be screaming it from the roof tops…
Plus the fact that the report specifically states that the area was roped off for the FBI…
I’d be surprised if the shooter isn’t a muslim. There’s no way that the press wouldn’t have detailed info is he was some white guy with a European name. The fact that the FBI is all over this, and such a blanket of silence has been draped over everything speaks volumes about what happened.
From Lalate.com
EL PASO (LALATE) – The Fort Bliss shooting from Monday has been identified as a former Shopette employee and retired Sergeant Major, reports KFOX today. The Fort Bliss shooter injured two before he was shot dead by responding MP’s.
The cause of the shooting is under investigation. And while the FBI and Garrison Commander Col. Joseph Simonelli Jr. have yet to reveal many details about the attempted murders Monday, local news is reporting new details Tuesday. Both victims are reportedly current employees at the Shopette. El Paso Mayor John Cook tells news that the victims were both women, shot in the head by their former co-worker. Reports claim officers responded within three minutes of the women being shot.
Simonelli simply said in a news briefing Monday “There were reports of several shots fired at one of our local Shopettes. The shooter has been killed by law enforcement agents.” El Paso Times is reporting that employees at the Shopette are generally not members of the military.
The shooting occurred Monday. But because of the quick response effectuated by Fort Bliss’ emergency response system, the area never went into lockdown. “At no point was the post put on lockdown. We did direct traffic around the shopette area.”
Sounds pretty cut and dried. He’s retired military, which means he’s a civilian, so the FBI has jurisdiction. Routine.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TX_FORT_BLISS_SHOOTING_TXOL-?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT