Two Dead, Including Alleged Shooter, In El Paso VA Clinic Shooting

                     One person was shot and killed in an El Paso Army medical facility Tuesday afternoon, and the alleged shooter is dead, army officials said Tuesday night.

The incident at the El Paso Veteran Affairs Clinic was reported around 3:10 p.m. local time, Maj. Gen. Stephen Twitty, commanding general of Fort Bliss, said at a news conference.

“All other VA patients and staff are safe,”  Twitty said. “Everything is under control and there is no immediate threat to Fort Bliss or the local community.”

Officials  offered condolences, but took no questions from reporters and gave no details about the identities of the victim and alleged shooter.

Earlier in the evening, the office of  Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, confirmed that a doctor had been shot.

The FBI is investigating the shooting, and the FBI’s Doug Lindquist said they have hundreds of witnesses that they need to interview. “They were here seeking medical assistance,” he said.

The William Beaumont Army Medical Center, which is adjacent to the El Paso VA main health care facility, was placed on lockdown late Tuesday afternoon after reports of an active shooter situation. Streets surrounding the complex were blocked off and helicopters flew above, the El Paso Times reported. For hours, people within the facility tweeted photos to local reporters, writing that they were still under lock down.

Twitty said the VA “immediately enacted their response plan for all persons to shelter in place.” Lindquist described the response to the active shooting as “a model of how to respond.”

“We’ve been preparing, in the event, to respond to something like this, and unfortunately we had to today,” Lindquist said.

The clinic will be closed Wednesday and veterans will have theirs appointments rescheduled.