14 days ago
SACRAMENTO, CA - Aaron Bryant said worry began to set in Thursday when he heard about a shooting at Fort Hood.
He was concerned because he has relatives living and working at the Texas army post. "I immediately started calling and couldn't get a hold of them because they had shut all the phones down," said Bryant.
Bryant, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager, said his brother Allen was stationed at the post until he left for his third tour in Iraq. Allen left behind his wife Kathy and two children, who live on the base.
Bryant said his sister-in-law works in a building that's only a couple of streets away from where Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers in a readiness center. 13 people were killed and at least 30 others were injured.
Bryant said at first, Kathy and her co-workers thought the military was conducting a terrorism drill. "The bullhorns were going. They said go in your house and turn off your air conditioning," Bryant said.
Apparently, it wasn't long before Kathy realized something had gone terribly wrong. "She mentioned the screaming and speeding cars," said Bryant. "When the cars started speeding and people started running around frantically, that's when she said reality set in."
Apparently some of the bullets in the shooting spree pierced the walls of nearby buildings. "She said she has a friend who is a dentist. He was in a building that was very close to where this shooting took place and he had a patient in his chair who got shot," Bryant said.
Bryant said Kathy called home and talked to her children, ages 9 and 11, and gave them instructions on what they needed to do to stay safe. She remained locked down at her job site for 12 hours before she was allowed to go home.
Bryant said he's just happy his relatives are safe. "I'm glad about it but there's a big picture. It's not just my family I'm worried about but all the other people involved."
By Karen Massie, kmassie@news10.net
News10/KXTV
