Fort Bliss shooting, Officials with Fort Bliss confirmed that a shooter killed one person before taking their own life Tuesday afternoon inside the El Paso VA Clinic at William Beaumont Army Medical Center located at 5001 N. Piedras.
According to Congressman Beto O’Rourke, the victim was a doctor at the clinic. Maj. Gen. Twitty confirmed that the doctor died as a result of injuries sustained after being shot.
Major General Stephen Twitty confirmed the information in a news conference at Fort Bliss shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday. Officials say that the initial call came in around 3:10 p.m. MST to reports of an active shooter inside the VA clinic. The VA and WBAMC immediately went on lockdown.
Dolores Galaviz was waiting in the parking lot for her husband, a veteran, when the shots rang out. She told NewsChannel 9, "(My husband) called me and told me they were all locked in and he couldn't get out."
When it was deemed safe, the clinic was evacuated and the hundreds of visitors and staff, all potential witnesses, were lined up and then put on school buses to be taken to a secure location for questioning. Many of the staff, wearing only their hospital scrubs, were given blankets to keep warm as the sun went down.
Law enforcement officers from the El Paso Police Department, Fort Bliss Military Police, Customs and Border Protections Agents, El Paso Independent Police Department and the FBI flooded the area in a massive response.
“Our partners work very, very well together and we have been preparing in the event that we would have to respond to something like this," said Doug Lindquist, head of the El Paso FBI. "Unfortunately, we had to exercise that today.”
Fort Bliss officials confirm that the situation was contained to the floor of origin, and the gunman and doctor were the only two individuals involved in the incident. They did not release any information on the identity of the doctor or suspected gunman.The FBI will be the lead agency in the ongoing investigation and have advised NewsChannel9 that the VA Clinic at WBAMC is still an active crime scene and will be closed Wednesday, January 7 as officials continue to piece together evidence from the crime scene.
Veterans who had previously scheduled appointments will be contacted to reschedule. The VA released the following statement through their Facebook page late Tuesday night, “The Department of Veterans Affairs is deeply saddened by the tragic situation that has occurred in El Paso, and we are actively working with our partners at Fort Bliss to investigate this matter. We will continue to cooperate fully with military and civilian authorities at Beaumont Army Medical Center. The safety and continued care of our Veterans and the staff will be our focus throughout this situation.”
