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A day later the details of the shooting that left 13 dead and some three dozen injured at a Soldier Readiness Center became clearer. All three newscasts kicked off from Fort Hood: Lester Holt for NBC, Dean Reynolds for CBS and Ryan Owens for ABC. CBS' Reynolds called the Readiness Center, where soldiers are given medical checkups before an overseas deployment "a shooting gallery." ABC's Owens said the center was "packed. There were at least 300 soldiers inside, all of them unarmed."
"It was a day of tragedy and heroism as soldiers worked as fast as they could to save their own," recounted NBC's Mark Potter. They took off their T-shirts and turned them into tourniquets. They used cars to rush the wounded to emergency rooms. CBS' Kelly Cobiella told the story of Amber Bahr, a 19-year-old soldier who carried a comrade to safety "not realizing she was shot in the back."
The shooting was finally halted by Sgt Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer. ABC anchor Charles Gibson designated her as his network's Person of the Week for challenging the gunman to a handgun duel that left both of them wounded. Munley is a firearms instructor and SWAT team member. "Within hours of the shooting Facebook fan pages dedicated to Kim popped up."
Many of the dead soldiers were supposed to have flown off to war. Instead their bodies were flown to Dover Air Force Base, where the bodies of the war dead arrive. There is a military mortuary there where autopsies will be performed. NBC's Holt called it "the same solemn journey."
As a tribute to the slain soldiers, each newscast offered a series of thumbnail portraits. CBS' Cobiella offered tidbits about an "avid videogamer" and a "gifted guitarist." ABC's Bob Woodruff told us of a newlywed and a mental health specialist "just like the man who allegedly ended her life." All three newscasts featured Francheska Velez, who was coming home from war. "Velez had returned early," NBC's Potter explained, six weeks pregnant.
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