>> this is "nightline." tonight, 15 minutes of hell. how did this smiling father of three turn into a cold blooded killer? the new detailins coming up tonight about ivan lopez. and amidst the mayhem, the woman emerging as a hero. >> it was heroic and she did what we would expect of a military police. >> plus, this car has been recalled. but when we go on an undercover mission to buy a gm cobalt, can we count on him to let us know. and the price of beauty knockoff products may look like the real thing, but do you know what you're buying? but first, the "nightline" top five. which starts right now.

>> some things, just go together like auto and home insurance.

good evening. smiling pictures of a young father of three portray nothing of the mayhem to come.

what made ivan lopez snap and fire on fellow servicemen and women at ft. hood? new details about the shooter and the female officer who stopped him before he could kill again. we're on the ground, leading the coverage tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the burning question in this close-knit military community shattered again by a mass shoot, who was the man behind these pictures. ivan lopez, here he is smiling on photos posted on facebook, his children by his side. a father of three, a husband, a soldier. did something inside snap? lopez was a 34-year-old army specialist with a clean record. he served four months in iraq in 2011. the pentagon says he never saw combat. but authorities say what he created here was a horror of its own. shortly after 4:00 p.m. yesterday, he opens fire on the base, 4:16, the first wounded soldiers call 11. >> we have an active shooter in ft. hood. >> he gets in his vehicle and keeps fire pg.

>> we have multiple gunshot victims. >> he then walks into a second building opening fire again. the alert goes out. >> please shelter immediately. >> a tweet from ft. hood, all personnel and post are asked to shelter in place. >> there may have been a verbal altercation with another soldier or soldiers and there's a strong possibility that that in fact immediately preceded the shooting. >> then the critical moment in this parking lot when he's con fronted by that female military police officer. he puts his hands up at first and when he reaches inside his jack, she pulls out her guns and fires. he shoots himself in the head. >> he is down, he is down. >> there were several instance here of clear heroism. i would cite that female mp, with we're not going to release her name yet. she's germane to the investigation. but she clearly performed her duty exceptionally well. >> tonight, we learned there were many hero, the chaplain inside shielding the soldiers.

but when it was done, he killed three and wounded 16 other, three of them critically. >> they were brought in right through here? >> >> right. >> dr. davis answered the call five years ago after the shooting here at ft. hood. >> you never thought you would see this twice. >> when i heard the phone call that it was happening, it was shock and disbelief. >> he brought us into the er where he's sadly treating the wounded again. >> what was the worst of what you saw? >> several i would consider pretty severe injuries injuries to the spine, the neck. we had chest wounds, abdominal wounds, et cetera? >> too gunshots? >> correct. >> reporter: among them, keisha fountain. her family said she tried to talk to the shooter. she was shot to the stomach. they were by her side as she underwent surgery today. this evening, the hospital telling us she made it through. she's been upgraded from critical condition to stable. and there's carol miller's son, too. patrick miller among the injured.

these families all want to know what could have led to this. on the same facebook page a post in 2013 showing lopez in full gear and a comment. memories of fallujah, iraq, 2011. authorities say he later diagnosed himself with draw mattic brain injury. >> he was not a wounded warrior. he was not wounded in action in our records. lopez moved to the base in el paso in ft. hood with his second wife and a 3-year-old daughter. neighbors say they watched him move in. no red flags, no warning signs. >> you saw them. they looked happy? is in fact, neighbors saw his wife yesterday when news broke of the shooting. at first, she was worried about her husband's safety. >> she was crying. i consulted her. we all came down stairs. and as soon as they announced the name of the shooter, she just lost it.

>> and what did she say to you? when a did she say to her? she said that's him, that's him. and i didn't really say anything to her, because what could i say. >> here's what we did know. he purchased a .45 caliber handgun march 1, a little more than a month ago, the same gun store where major nadal hassan bought his gun before killing 13 and injuring more than 30 here. and while authorities were aware lopez suffered from mental issue, today in washington the secretary of the army said there were no warning signs of anything like this. >> as of this morning, we had no indication on the record of that examination that there was any sign of likely violence, either to himself or to others. >> today, my colleague spoke to lopez's former supervisor in purt reierto rico who was full nothing but praise. >> you would say he was an

outstanding soldier? >> that's correct. he was an outstanding marine soldier. >> reporter: but it was last summer when things began to unravel. >> he was undergoing a variety of treatment and diagnoses for mental health conditions ranging from depression to anxiety to some sleep disturbance. he was prescribed a number of drugs to address those, including am bee yen. >> he was being tracked for signs of post traumatic stress. >> it was not i see you for the first time and post traumatic stress disorder. normally it's not a diagnosis you make on one appointment. it's something you make over a series of appointments. >> reporter: new clues as authorities continue their investigation. >> we have strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates unstable psychiatric or psychological conditions. going through all the records to ensure that that is, in fact, correct. and we believe that to be the

fundamental underlying cause factor. >> a family spokesperson said he was upset he was only granted a short leave to attend his mother's funeral last year and no one knew he was being treated for mental illness. how was he able to carry his gun on base and inflict so much destruction in 15 minutes of chaos. ft. hood, texas. >> >> up next on "nightline," it's been all over the news. this car recalled. but can we count on a salesman to let us know about it. [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] the 2014 nissan altima. with 270 horses... ♪ ...blind spot warning... ♪ ...and advanced drive assist. ♪ nothing beats an altima. except another altima. ♪ nissan. innovation that excites.

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with all the talk of she havery recalls of late, we wondered what would happen if we went on an undercover mission and tried to buy one. would the sales people let us know about the recall, just in case we weren't up on it. and what about other cars with problems? here's the results. >> reporter: the make, the model, the color. there are so many questions when you're buying a car. but there's another question -- a potentially life-saving one you might never think to ask. >> is it safe? what about safety? >> you are watching undercover video of a recent car dealership in new york. what you're about to hear and see might shock you. >> listen, it's a small car. for being what it is, it's safe. . >> stop. three lies. that's a 2006 cobalt. the very same gm vehicle at the center of a major national recall. but will this dealer tell us? >> it's a nice car.

>> it is a nice car. >> these vehicles have a faulty ignition switch, the consequences of which can be deadly. these dramatic photos capture the horrific accident that killed a nurse on her 29th birthday. in fact, it was this tragedy, in addition to at least a dozen other deaths that helped launch the gm auto recall, one of the biggest in history. lawyers say the young woman's cobalt had an ignition switch problem and she lost control. just a few months after gm settled case, a recall fiasco ignited across the country. but what if you're buying one of the 3.5 million cars with open recalls. can you count on the salesman to fully inform you? we hit the road to find out, to see how up front or knowledgeable car dealerships would be be about cars for sale that might be you should open recall.

our producer jerry went under cover in five new york area car lots, asking about cars we knew had open recalls. >> you think it's going to do 200,000 miles? >> the cobalt? no doubt. >> we looked at this cobalt, this salesman gave a full disclosure. >> cobalt has a recall on it right now about the ignition switch. gm will cover it. it's completely covered by gm. >> but look what happened at this next lot. >> can you pop the hood for me? >> this salesman showed us a 2002 jeep grand cherokee which also has an open recall, this one for air bag questions. >> let me ask you a question. i have a couple of kids. 7 and 11 and i want to make sure the car is safe. is it safe? >> no problem here. no problem. this is what we're here for. >> he says they'll take it to a mechanic for an inspection

before the final sale, but no mention at all of that important recall. >> as long as the cars are safe. nothing i need to know. >> we called back to follow up on the incident and the office manager said we didn't know it had a recall. that's not all we found. watch what happens at another dealership in new york. a 2006 cobalt with the ignition switch recall, a known hazard that has taken at least a dozen lives. >> is it safe? i mean, what about safety? >> listen, it's a small car. for being what it is, it's safe temperature. >> there's nothing i need to know about that car. >> nothing. you saw my write up, right? >> yeah, yeah. >> nothing we need to know at all, huh? >> do you know whether that car you're looking at, which looks like a real cream puff has that two or three outstanding recalls on it. you could dwroo you could drive out of the lot and have a breakdown or a crash just a couple of miles down the

road. >> there's no federal or state law that requires dealers to tell customers about open recalls. >> people are driving with hazards that have gotten rawed that they're not fixed. >> it's quite easy to find out about recalls. take that cobalt, for example. we're on gm.com. we plugged in the vin, the car's id number and within seconds, with esee it has a recall. car facts.com also has a tool on their website that does recall checks for a number of auto manufacturers. three daytons later we went back. >> hi, how are you? >> to ask why he never mentioned the recall on the cobalt. >> you said this car is safe but it actually has a recall. >> well, recalls get recorded once you register the car. we don't know if there's a recall or not. >> we pulled it up here on gm.com, there's the recall.

ignition switch replacement. >> we don't get these. >> what are you going to do moving forward sfwh. >> after we left, he said he was taking the cobalt off the lot until it was fixed. the manufacturers website has online tools. the resounding lesson we learned -- be a savvy consumer. when it comes to buying a car, it could save your life. >> coming up, what ask really in your makeup? and could it be dangerous?

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>> we have a consumer warning

tonight about knockoff makeup products that can lead surprising side effects. a and we're not talking about glowing skin here. >> reporter: buying makeup can very quickly get expensive, which is why some people are trying to save money online. looking for their favorite brands sold by third party vendors on such websites like ebay, am zone and various internet outlet sites. but are you getting the real thing? those brand names bought online may actually be knockouts. dermatologists say knockoffs macon taken dangerous amounts of chemicals like heavy medals like lead, which can cause serious reactions to the skin. they may look like the real thing on line. but do you know what you're really getting? we went online and ordered a bunch of cosmetic from third party vendors selling brand numb products. then we compared them to the same items we bought at

authorized retail stores. the first red flag, our purchase from this outlet site, which says it sells authentic mac makeup for a fraction of the cost. this came from beijing, china. >> many of the items looked a little off. >> this is supposed to be a matte shade. the color is definitely different. look at this imperfection right above the "r." but this mac foundation from the outlet site. >> there's a sticker printed on the box here. it feels lighter. mi mirror is cracked. >> it's different eyes. they're green. they're brown. see how the printing over here is just imperfect? >> we sent what we bought online to nsf lab to see if they were comparable. guess what? they weren't. the mascara was not the same as

the awe the authentic benefit m. the authentic product had 0.27 micrograms of lead. the knockoff we purchased, 260 mic micrograms per gram. almost 1,000 times as much lead. >> this equates to 26 times the allowable level of lead in cosmetics produced in canada. >> reporter: many countries have strict laws and oversight for the ingredients allowed in beauty products. >> currently there are no set levels for lead or other heavy metals for cosmetics in the u.s. >> the dermatologist we spoke with said the trace amounts of lead in the authentic is not concerning. but the knockoff is. some knockoffs can potentially cause reactions. >> they can permanently scar you if you get a reaction on your skin that's severe enough.

>> the fda leaves it up to cosmetic companies to test their products. but knockoffs aren't guaranteed to be tested at all. >> if they're sold by a retailer not designated to sell these problem then you don't know what you're geing. >> ebay and amazon said they investigate all reports of knockoff goods. ebay even restricted the seller we bought our mascara from, because some knockoffs may look more authentic than others, both mac and benefit told us they urge their customers to shop only at authorized retailers. so ladies, this is one bargain you may want to skip. >> sometimes you get what your pay for. thanks for watching tonight. tune into gma first thing in the morning. as always, we're online at abcnews.com. 24 hours a day.