My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected the horrible tragedy at Fort Hood yesterday.
This is a blog about photojournalism, so I want to tell my story about how I photographed this historical event. At 2:21 pm I was in downtown Austin covering a funeral when I got a news alert on my cell phone about the shooting in Killeen. Eleven minutes later I got a call from my editor telling me to hit the road and follow staff photographer Rudy Gonzalez who was already on his way there.
It’s an hour and a half drive to Killeen and the sun sets around 5:40 this time of year. So I knew I’d have to work very quickly to get my photos before it got too dark. Right away I got stuck behind a traffic accident on the Interstate. It took 15 minutes to go half a mile to get around the wreck.
As I got near Killeen my editor called to discuss our plan. Rudy would be stationed at Fort Hood’s Main Gate covering all the news conferences and getting various reaction photos. It would be my job to get reaction photos in other places around Killeen.
My first stop would be Under the Hood, a gathering place for soldiers. I thought there would be dozens of soldiers watching the news and consoling each other. When I arrived at 4:12 pm there were exactly two.
Army veterans Victor Agosto, left, and Jeremy Hamilton watch TV news about the shooting at Fort Hood on Thursday at Under the Hood, a gathering place for soldiers and former soldiers in Killeen. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
I was only blocks away from an entrance to Fort Hood, and since the post was locked down, I decided to try to photograph the scene of heavily armed police guarding the gate. As I drove up I was told by an MP to turn around and not photograph the gate or any of the police. Not giving up so easily, as I took this photo out of my car window at 4:26 pm. As I drove away I could hear the MP yelling at me and I thought he might chase me down.Thankfully, he didn’t.
Heavily armed police officers guard the East Rancier gate of Fort Hood on Thursday. The post was locked down for hours after the shooting. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Just outside the gate I stopped and photographed Iman Mahmood Hasan bin Hamad, a Killeen resident who was anxiously watching the scene. The shooting suspect is a Muslim, and bin Hamad said she was worried about the reaction from the community. It was now 5:06 pm.
Killeen resident Iman Mahmood Hasan bin Hamad looks toward an entrance to Fort Hood after the shotings Thursday. She said she wanted to see the scene after learning the suspect had a Muslim name and said she was worried about the reaction from the community. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
I decided to go to a hospital on the other side of town. As I drove on the US 190 access road near the Clear Creek gate at 5:32 pm I saw a man being frisked by police. I pulled over and started taking photos, but within seconds a police officer demanded that I leave and stop taking photos near the gate. I objected but the officer was in no mood to argue about my rights as a journalist to be on a public road and photograph something in plain sight.So he took my ID and checked me for outstanding warrants. He quickly decided it wasn’t worth his time and he let me go.
Antoine Overstreet, 19, is searched by police after he walked toward the Clear Creek gate at Fort Hood in Killeen on Thursday.. Overstreet lives on base and said he was just trying to walk home. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
I got call from my editor asking me to send my photos so I stopped at the next the next gas station. That’s when at 5:40 pm I noticed a soldier sitting alone with his thoughts on the back of his humvee.
Fort Hood was locked down after Thursday's shootings. Sgt. First Class Noe Figueroa, here sitting outside the post's Clear Creek gate in Killeen, was among those waiting to get back inside. "I think it's sad for all the soldiers that got hurt, that got killed. It shouldn't have happened," he said. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
After photographing him, I spent the next several minutes in my car with my laptop quickly editing and sending my photos. I was finally done. Or so I thought…
Then I remembered that I still hadn’t sent my photos from the funeral three and a half hours ago.
