So it’s almost 24 hours later. A man walked into a “Shopette” on the Fort Bliss base, shot two employees then as he was trying to leave, was shot dead by the MPs.
We still don’t know his name, don’t have a picture, have no indication of motive – which pretty much rules out him being a right wing Christian white man. The only thing a bit different about this event is DHS didn’t come out 30 seconds after it happened and declared “We’re sure this was not a terrorist incident”
The local media is now reporting the shooter was ex-military and had previously worked in the store. The race is on to actually get details before the story completely falls off the radar of the national news.
So now the details trickle in…
The shooter was 63 year old Steven Kropf , who was a former employee of the PX. He had been fired for chasing someone who stole beer, which was against store policy. He was retired military.
There is supposedly some girlfriend type connection. One of the women he shot has died. She apparently was an innocent bystander in the store at the wrong time at the wrong place. However, oddly the main source of the details coming out is a friend of the dead woman who didn’t know the shooter.
The FBI says that both women worked for the PX, but other reports said she was just there buying halloween candy.
Something is not adding up.
24 more hours. FBI announces officially that shootings were “not terrorist related”.
No picture of the shooter, no personal info beyond he was a retired Army Seargant who was fired from working at the Quickie Mart. He owned a dog, and lived with a woman until a few months ago.
Fort Bliss is right on the Mexican border, where Texas borders New Mexico.
Hopefully the man is not a Muslim convert. That might give a bad name to the religion of peace.
Still no pictures, no indication of motive, no additional details about his life or military career. The story is officiallly off the national media radar now.
Based on past episodes, there will be a local story a month from now that the national media won’t notice, and that will be that.