Remarks by the President on the Shooting at Fort Hood

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

Chicago Cut Steakhouse Chicago, Illinois

6:46 P.M. CDT

April 02, 2014

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  I just got off the phone with Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Sandy Winnefeld to get the latest report on the situation in 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 that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. 

Any shooting is troubling.  Obviously this reopens the pain of what happened at Fort Hood five 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 that 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 want to comment on the facts until I know exactly what has happened, but for now, I would just hope that everybody across the country is keeping the families and the community at Fort Hood in our thoughts and in our prayers.  The folks there have sacrificed so much on behalf of our freedom.  Many of the people there have been on multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They serve with valor; 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 for you as we get more details [about what happened.]

Thanks, everybody.

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