nbc's charles hadlock joins us from ft. hood today. good morning to you, charles. we know the shooter is an iraq war veteran being treated for anxiety and depression at the time. what else have you learned? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, richard. authorities, the fbi and the army are trying to figure out why this soldier opened fire on three of his colleagues, killing them and wounding 16 other soldiers yesterday here at ft. hood before committing suicide. authorities say they don't have a motive, but they don't believe it is terrorism. and that's a big relief to the ft. hood community here, which, as you mentioned, four and a half years ago endured the wrath of major nidal hasan who opened fire killing 13 soldiers and wounding 32 others. he was inspired by an islamic cleric. he was sentenced to death by an army panel last summer. that verdict is being appealed. but authorities don't know what this motive was of this soldier. we do know that he lived here in town for about three weeks. he just moved here with his family. a wife and a 3-year-old daughter. neighbor

hood, texas, nbc's charles hadlock with the very latest. authorities here at ft. hood, the military and fbi, are trying to piece together why this soldier opened fire yesterday, killing three of his colleagues and wounding 16 others before taking his own life. authorities say they don't know a motive, but they have ruled out terrorism, at least for the moment. they don't see any signs that point to terrorism. that's good news here at ft. hood, which, you know, four and half years ago, we dealt with nadal hassan, who opened fire, killing 13 soldiers and wounding 32 others. he said he was motivated by an islamic cleric. in this case, they don't know a motive. this soldier is 34 years old. he lived in killeen, texas, in an apartment complex. nbc news went to the complex last night, talked to some of the neighbors. they say the family moved in about three weeks ago, a wife and a daughter about 3 years old. he was a quiet guy but always friendly, waved to neighbors. they were devastated to hear the news that he may be involved in this shooting. t

hood with charles hadlock, my colleague down there from nbc. charles, we're getting more about the victims, a little bit more about the recovery efforts there, in the hospital there with those wounded. what more can you tell me? >> that's right. well, the fbi and the army are poring over ivan lopez's service record. he received three good conduct medals. they just can't explain what went wrong. now, the military commanders say, however, that lopez was being treated for anxiety, depression, and a sleep disorder, and that he was a candidate for receiving therapy for post-traumatic stress syndrome, although that has not been diagnosed for the man. it's not clear if that had anything to do with the shootings here on wednesday. lieutenant general mark miley did say, however, it is likely a verbal altercation led to the shootings on wednesday with a soldier or soldiers. now, that has been -- it has been reported, however, that lopez may have been upset over not getting enough time off to grieve for his mother, who died last november. but the army has

hood with nbc's charles hadlock. charles, how is everyone coping there? >> reporter: hi, abby. they're getting ready for another briefing here at ft. hood from the central command at ft. hood. the commanding general last night spoke and gave us a few details. we'll hopefully get some more about 4:00 eastern time today. but part of the investigation centers around the gun. the gun that was used in this crime was a .45 caliber handgun that was purchased here in killeen, texas. incidentally, it was the same store that major nidal hasan bought his weapon back in 2009 before he began his rampage here that killed 13 people. now, the command here does not know exactly what the motive was of this soldier who committed the crime yesterday. but they say that they will continue the investigation. the gun itself was a legal purchase, according to the shop owner, who says that the soldier passed all of the required tests and inspections and background checks, as did major hasan. and guns are allowed on a army post. however, they must be registered first, and that's not what happened in eith

charles hadlock, appreciate it. of course, also everyone is wondering about the suspect's past. new information on that subject was released this morning in a hearing on capitol hill. nbc news pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski has been following this in depth from washington. what more do you know about specialist lopez? >> according to the secretary of the army, john mchugh, who you had on the air in a few minutes ago in testimony on the hill today, it presents somewhat of a mystery. here's somebody who went on a shooting rampage but if you look at his record, it's not necessarily stellar, but it's a clean record according to mchugh. he was in iraq for a brief period of time, four months. at the very end of the war and appears to have been one of those who drove the last few trucks, american trucks out of iraq in kuwait. also, mchugh revealed that just last month the suspect, lopez, sat down with a psychiatrist there at ft. hood for an examination. lopez was complaining that he had bouts with depression and anxiety and sleeplessness but according to the report that mchugh

first charles hadlock joins us live from ft. hood with the last on the investigation and then to jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: the fbi and military officials here are going over the military service record of ivan lopez trying to find out if there were any red flags that would indicate there was trouble ahead. they just can't find anywhere in his 15-year military service record. in the four years he served as a u.s. soldier, he received three good conduct medals while in service. but the military says he did have some psychological issues. he was experiencing anxiety and depression and sleep disorder -- and he was about to receive some evaluation of post-traumatic stress syndrome, but there's no indication that that played any role in wednesday's shooting. they say there was a verbal altercation just prior to the shooting between the soldier and several other soldiers. that may have sparked what happened. some of the friends and neighbors of lopez say he had been upset he had been denied a chance to visit his family members aft

charles hadlock has been reporting. what can you tell us about ivan lopez and actually how he got that gun on to the base? >> reporter: well, he bought the gun several weeks ago. lopez had only been living in the killeen area the last three months after he was transferred here. he bought a gun recently. we confirmed that with the gun store owner today, that he purchased the gun, which is not illegal. he passed all the background checks. and guns are not illegal to take on to ft. hood. however, the owners must register them with the post and that did not happen in this case nor in the case of nidal hasan, who also bought his gun from the same store here in killeen back in 2009 before that rampage. the family lives in an apartment complex not far from the post here. we sent a crew over there today. they found what we believe to believe the spouse of the soldier at that apartment. she said that she was tired, she was not feeling well and had been up all night talking to police. shortly after that, family members came and t

my colleague charles hadlock is there. charles, we're learning a little bit about when he purchased his gun. it wasn't very long ago that he purchased the gun that he used. >> reporter: no, according to the commanding general here at ft. hood, the man that bought the gun at a local gunstore just a few weeks ago. now, it's not illegal for a soldier to have a gun on post, but he must register it with the army. and that's something that this man did not do. this gun was not registered. it was a .45 semiautomatic pistol he used to go on his rampage through two buildings at ft. hood. finally, he confronted -- was confronted by a uniformed military police officer who told him to put up his hands. he did. but then lowered his hand, reached into his jacket, pulled out the gun, and shot himself, ending the rampage here. this is just a few hundred yards, as you mentioned, from where major nadal hassan committed about 13 murders and wounded 32 others during that rampage just four and a half years ago here at ft. hood. >> charles, duri

nbc's charles hadlock starts us off live at ft. hood, we're two hours away from the next military briefing, where do things stand right now? >> nbc news is reporting that the ft. hood gunman opened fire after he was denied a leave form to fill out. he was told to come back later to fill out that form. well, he came back later, and opened fire, killing three soldiers and wounding 16 others including himself. he killed himself. that account comes from the father of army sergeant jonathan westbrook, who spoke to his wounded son, directly about what happened, you can read more about that account on nbc news.com. meanwhile, the father of the gunman issued a statement from the lopez family, saying in part, i asked for prayers for the affected families, my son must not have been in his right mind, he wasn't like that, the father said. specialist lopez had a 15-year spotless record with the army, but according to the army, he had some psych logical problems. he was suffering depression and was having trouble sleeping and had anxiety attack

. >> let's check in with charles hadlock, live from ft. hood right now. charles, do we have any new information about the investigation today? >> reporter: well, the texas governor rick perry and texas senator ted cruz will be talking to reporters, they've been visiting some of the injured soldiers. we hope to hear from them a little later in this hour. meanwhile, the investigation continues by the army and fbi looking into the background, military service record of specialist lopez. they can find nothing out of the ordinary in fact, during his 15 years in the service he had an exem playerry record. in the last four years, he received three good conduct records, awards. they can't find anything wrong there. however, they do say he had psychological problems recently. he was experiencing anxiety, depression and sleeplessness. and he was being evaluated for ptsd but there's no indication that had anything to do with the shootings on wednesday. they are focusing on that fight, that verbal altercation that happened wednesday at one of the buildings here with t

. >> we go to charles hadlock who's in ft. worth, texas. can you tell us any new developments that we're getting out of ft. hood today? >> reporter: texas senator rick perry and texas senator rick cruz just finished a news conference, they visited some of the wounded soldiers and their families, they said they were very touched by that and said there were very brave men and women who defend this country. he said this is a resilient community and it will rebound. he talked about the policy of this base which allows guns to come on the post. he said now is not the time to talk about things like that, they will be addressed in the future. right now investigation is continuing into the background of sergeant lopez. right now it appears he had a stellar military career, 15 years, several years in the army reserve in puerto rico, and then four years in the u.s. army here in the states where he served overseas in iraq for four months. he received three good conduct medals in his four years in the army. so there's nothing wrong there. however, the

nbc charles hadlock is joining me on the phone from mayflower arkansas. first to you, charles, what are you seeing around you there in m mayflower? i think communications with charles are difficult, cell phone coverage also affected by the storms. let's get to dave in mississippi. dave, let's talk about where the storm is heading next. >> reporter: andrea, i can tell you what charles was going to tell you about in the northern part of little rock there's a city called mayflower and it was just completely wiped out by that half mile tornado that came through there. the city is just destroyed. you will see lots of damage there and trailers being thrown into bill boards and areas just wiped out. 16 plus people were killed in that so we're looking back on that and still they are trying cleanup efforts there, it's going to take a while. they are right in the middle of this. but now we're looking ahead here in the state of mississippi. i'm standing here in the state capital at the capitol building where don't let the sunny sky fool you, we are in a dangerous ser

let's bring in charles hadlock live at ft. hood. chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski and jack jacobs, medal of honor recipient. what is the latest information about the suspected shooter and of course the victims? >> reporter: well, good afternoon, andrea, the army and fbi are continuing their investigation into why this man loaded a gun and came on to post and began shooting his fellow soldiers. part of that investigation involves the gun itself. it was a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun purchased a few weeks ago from a local gun store here. it should be pointed out, it's the same gun store that major nidal hasan bought his weapon of choice along with two lasers pointers here at the base. the gun store owner says he has cooperated with the fbi and turned over documents and records of the purchase to fbi and they are going over those documents at this hour. the shooter is 34 years old and married and has a daughter who's about 3 years old and lives in an apartment complex near the post. nbc news reached out to the spouse

nbc's charles hadlock joins us now from fort hood. charles, just seeing this photograph for the very first time. as i understand, authorities have spoken with his wife at this point, getting more information on his background and what may have led to that shooting last night. >> reporter: that's right. specialist lopez lived just off the base here in killeen, texas, in an apartment. nbc news went to the apartment today knocked on the door. a woman answered. asked if she was the spouse of mr. lopez, she indicated she was. she said she was tired. had been up all night and wasn't feeling well. a few minutes later, some family members came and took her away from the apartment building. the apartment building itself is full of people who said that they saw mr. lopez only for the last three weeks or so. that's how long they've lived in killeen. they've only been here a short time but said he was a nice man. he smiled and waved whenever they saw him. so it's baffling to them how he could do such a horrible crime here on post. >> and, charles,

nbc's charles hadlock joins us live from ft. hood. charles, what new information are we getting regarding specialist lopez and his state of mind prior to this shooting? >> reporter: well, the army and the fbi have been poring over the service record of ivan lopez, trying to find out if there were any red flags that may have indicated trouble ahead anywhere in his 15-year military career. they can't find any. in fact, in the four years he was in the u.s. army, he had three gold -- good conduct service medals. the army does say that he did have psychological problems. he was under treatment for anxiety, depression, and sleep depravation, and he was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress syndrome, but there is no indication that played any role in wednesday's shooting. the army says that there was a verbal altercation just prior to the shooting with one soldier, perhaps more. they are looking into that to see if there was an argument. perhaps over his time off, over his leave. you mention he only got about 24 hours initially to attend

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