Breaking News

Four dead, including shooter, at Fort Hood

Fort Hood has confirmed an active shooter on post

Photo by Teresa Gubbins

Update: At a press conference Wednesday evening, it was confirmed that four people were killed, including the shooter; 16 people were injured in the Fort Hood shooting.

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KVUE -- At least four people are dead and 14 are injured following a shooting at Fort Hood, according to U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul.

Fort Hood officials say the post's directorate of emergency services has received reports that the shooter is dead, but cannot yet confirm the reports. However, CNN and the Associated Press are sourcing multiple U.S. officials that say the shooter is dead of a self-inflicted wound. It's unknown if there are any additional fatalities.

Patients are being taken to Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood and other local hospitals. Scott and White says it has received three patients.

Fort Hood's official account tweeted, "All personnel on post are asked to shelter in place." Waco police said emergency sirens were sounding on post, and personnel were being advised to stay away from windows and keep doors closed and locked. The post is on lockdown.

KVUE's sister station KENS 5 says around 4:35 pm Wednesday, around 20 rounds were shot outside near the transportation motor pool, but then the shooter went into the medical brigade building, according to a soldier on post at Fort Hood. The soldier said there appeared to be some sort of standoff happening.

"Immediately heard four gun shots and assumed they were blank rounds," a soldier said. "We then heard a burst, another burst and it was clear they weren't blank rounds. They were live rounds."

The solider also said soldiers took off from the transportation motor pool toward a 7-foot-high barbed wire fence and tried to climb the fence to get away. The soldier said he saw at least one person get hit.

According to Shelly Humphrey with Metroplex Hospital in Killeen, the hospital has been placed on standby. They have not yet received any injured patients. Central Texas College in Killeen is evacuating its campus. All evening and night classes have been canceled for the rest of the day.

Killeen police and EMS say they're aware of the shooting, but they're not assisting at the moment. The incident is being handled by Fort Hood officials. Bell County Sheriff's Office and Department of Public Safety officials are responding.

Fort Hood was the scene of a mass shooting in 2009. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded in what was the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in history.

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For more developments, visit KVUE.com.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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