Fort Hood Shootings

On April 2, 2014, Spc. Ivan Lopez-Lopez murdered three fellow soldiers and shot twelve others at Fort Hood before committing suicide.

The glossary of the army’s investigative summary lists the medications in Ivan Lopez-Lopez’s polypharmacy regimen: Ambien [Zolpidem Tartrate], Celexa [citalopram hydrobromide], Lunesta [eszopiclone], Wellbutrin [bupropion hydrochloride].

Over a ten month period from June 14, 2013 to March 10, 2014, Spc. Lopez-Lopez appears to have met with a half dozen mental health providers on at least ten occasions, possibly meeting with two providers on the same date on two of those occasions.  Records show Spc. Lopez-Lopez met with a Social Worker therapist, four psychiatrists, and a nurse practitioner who refilled prescriptions.

Army records indicate Spc. Lopez-Lopez visited an Embedded Behavioral Health (EBH) Social Worker therapist at Fort Bliss on June 14, 2013, July 31, 2013, October 2, 2013, and October 28, 2013; an EBH psychiatrist at Fort Bliss on June 20, 2013; an EBH psychiatrist at Fort Bliss on July 31, 2013, and August 27, 2013; an EBH psychiatrist at Fort Bliss on September 24, 2013, October 28, 2013, November 15, 2013, and November 19, 2013; a nurse practitioner at Fort Leonard Wood on 24 January 2014 to refill prescriptions; and a psychiatrist at Fort Hood on March 10, 2014 to evidently request more medication.  At the time of the shootings, Spc. Lopez-Lopez had a follow-up BH appointment scheduled for May 19, 2014.

Spc. Lopez-Lopez’s wife described her husband as “a calmed person who was always quiet and she was the one in the relationship who was outspoken… [She] stated that SPC Lopez-Lopez was not confrontational and when he was mad he just kept it to himself.”  She further stated that her husband “was not a violent person.  [She] stated in one occasion she punched him after an argument and he did not hit her.  She stated he was a calmed person.”

A childhood friend who knew Ivan Lopez-Lopez since the seventh grade told investigators that “he did not think Specialist Lopez-Lopez would do something like this.  He said on multiple occasions that Specialist Lopez-Lopez never joked about hurting himself or others… [He] did not see anything that would suggest Specialist Lopez-Lopez would take the actions he did.”

When asked to describe Ivan Lopez-Lopez, another person who knew him since he was fourteen years old described him as “Humble, honest, kind, good father, loving, for me he was like a son.”

A Private at Fort Hood who was friends with Spc. Lopez-Lopez told investigators: “He was always a happy guy.  Every time I talked to him, he never had anything bad to say.  I never saw him angry and he never talked about violence.”

A Sergeant who got to know Spc. Lopez-Lopez during a reclassification course at Fort Leonard Wood told investigators: “To me, nothing stood out about Spc Lopez that would make him a high risk Soldier.  I never saw him get mad or angry during our time together. Sometimes I would ask if everything was alright, but he never seemed angry.  He did not seem depressed.”

The FDA-approved label on Wellbutrin warns that serious neuropsychiatric symptoms such as homicidal ideation have been reported in patients treated with bupropion.

The FDA-approved label on Celexa warns of treatment emergent or worsening agitation, aggressiveness, akathisia, hostility, impulsivity, hypomania and mania.

The FDA-approved labels for Ambien and Lunesta warn of abnormal thinking, agitation, amnesia, bizarre behavior, behavior changes, depersonalization, hallucinations, worsening depression or suicidal thinking, and complex behaviors (e.g. sleep-driving, eating food, making phone calls, having sex while asleep).

Victims: SFC Daniel M. Ferguson, SSG Carlos A. Lazaney-Rodriguez, SGT Timothy W. Owens