Editorial: Incomprehensible tragedy

There are countless questions yet to be answered about the murderous rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that left 13 people dead and 28 people wounded Thursday.

Chief among them is, why? Why on earth would anyone commit such a horrendous act?

Investigators are conducting interviews and combing the home and writings of 39-year-old Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who has been identified as the gunman. The picture emerging so far is of a career military officer who seems to have become disenchanted with U.S. foreign policy and increasingly concerned about being deployed to a war zone. Although Maj. Hasan, a psychiatrist, listed "no religious preference" on his personnel records, witnesses reported that he shouted "God is great" in Arabic before he began firing, according to The New York Times.

Maj. Hasan also reportedly had required counseling earlier in his life before war in Iraq or Afghanistan was an issue.

It would be folly to try to assign motivation to the Fort Hood shootings at this point or to read too much into any of the tidbits that have been gathered so far. Certainly, no one should lash out at Muslims in the mistaken belief that their religion is to blame.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council condemned the shootings as a "heinous incident" and expressed "heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed as well as those wounded and their loved ones."

The entire community at Fort Hood is understandably devastated and in shock. Military bases tend to feel especially safe, and the shootings have shattered that sense of well being. The Army is looking at its screening procedures to see if they can be tightened, and that is a wise move. It isn't possible to prevent every risk, but officials ought to make sure that warning signs of a soldier's instability can be spotted.

Grieving family members and friends of the victims need our sympathy and prayers. The loss of a loved one is never easy, but to lose a child or parent or spouse so quickly and violently must be incomprehensible.

The Army had not released a list of the dead soldiers Friday afternoon, but families had provided some details. What was striking was how young some of the victims were. Michael Pearson, an Illinois native who joined the Army a year ago, was 21. Jason Hunt, 22, was a three-year veteran who joined the service because "it was time to grow up." Francheska Velez, 21, was on her way home from Iraq and was expecting a child.

They and the other 10 victims have left a void in their family, in their community and in our hearts.