Standing in front of a large black curtain with an American flag to his right, President Obama delivered a statement on the Fort Hood shooting Wednesday:
Hello everybody. I just got off the phone with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Sandy Winnefeld, to get the latest report on the situation at Fort Hood.Obviously, we're following it closely. The situation is fluid right now, but my national security team is in close contact with not just the Defense Department but the FBI.They are working with folks on the ground to determine exactly what happened to make sure that everybody is secure. And I want to just assure all of us we are going to get to bottom of exactly what happened.Any shooting is troubling. Obviously this reopens the pain of what happened at Fort Hood 5 years ago.We know these families, we know their incredible service to our country and the sacrifices that they make. Obviously our thoughts and prayers were — are with the entire community and we are going to do everything we can to make sure the community at Fort Hood has what it needs to deal with the current situation but also any potential aftermath.We're heartbroken that something like this might have happened again.And I don't what to comment on the facts until I know exactly what has happened. But just for now I would hope that everyone across the country is keeping the families and the community of Fort Hood in our thoughts and our prayers.The folks there have sacrificed so much on behalf of our freedom. Many of the people there have been through multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, they serve with valor and they serve with distinction.And when they're at their home base they need to feel safe. We don't yet know what happened tonight but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again. And we're going to have to find out exactly what happened. The Pentagon will undoubtedly have further briefings as we get more details about what happened. Alright. Thanks everybody.
