Two of the three soldiers killed by gunman Ivan Lopez this week at Fort Hood have been identified as Danny Ferguson and Timothy Owens.
Ferguson was engaged to fellow solder Kristen Haley, who says that he gave up his life to keep Lopez out of a room filled with military personnel.
“He held that door shut because it wouldn’t lock. It seems the doors would be bullet proof, but apparently they’re not,” Haley told News 10. “If he wasn’t the one standing there holding those doors closed, that shooter would have been able to get through and shoot everyone else.”
Ferguson had also just returned from service in Afghanistan.
“I know that he did have a pleasure of serving. This was his life. He was proud to be part of a great service,” said Haley.
Owens, 37, was being mourned by his mother, who lost her son just weeks after meeting a daughter she gave up for adoption at birth.
Mary Muntean of Effingham, Ill., told The Associated Press that she was still celebrating that reunion when she got a call telling her that her son was killed
An additional 16 were wounded.
Muntean said she has heart problems and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Her 54-year-old daughter sought her out, and the two met on March 23, she said.
“She finds one child and loses another,” said Betty Goodwin, Muntean’s niece and Owens’ cousin.
Sitting on her recliner on Wednesday, Muntean saw news on television of the attack at Fort Hood.
Unable to reach her son, she called his new wife, Billie Owens, who first said he was in the hospital. Before long, Owens’ wife called back, and Muntean had her worst fears confirmed.
“She said, ‘Mom, I want to tell you how sorry I am. Tim’s gone,’” Muntean said. “I broke down. I’m 77 years old and I can’t hardly take this.”
Goodwin said Muntean was told by Owens’ wife that he was shot in the chest.
Owens’ cousin, Glen Welton of Effingham, said Owens grew up with military dreams.
“He was one of those kids who wanted to wear camouflage and wanted to wear bomber jackets and sunglasses,” said Welton, himself a National Guard veteran of Iraq. “It took him a few years before he got himself in.”
Owens dropped out of high school in 1995, according to his mother and school records. She said he earned his GED diploma after joining the Army in 2004.
Welton said he ran into Owens last year at a funeral and the two figured out they had served in Iraq at the same time. Welton was there from 2005-06.
A photo from that day shows Welton with his arm around Owens, who wore his Army dress uniform, including a beret, and a pair of dark sunglasses.
“He had grown into a man. The military had made him a complete man,” Goodwin said. “I sure know he cleaned up pretty with his uniform.”
Owens was one of Muntean’s four children. A younger son died eight years ago after a lifelong disability, Goodwin said.
Family said Owens had been previously married and had children from that marriage.
A trauma center outside the base said the conditions had improved for three people who sustained critical injuries in the attack. Dr. Matthew Davis, trauma director at Scott & White Memorial Hospital, expressed optimism nobody else would die from their injuries. Several patients were released from the hospital Thursday.
One of the wounded was identified as Maj. Patrick Miller, a 32-year-old Iraq War veteran from western New York, the state’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. Miller, who lives with his wife outside Austin, Texas, is a native of Allegany in Cattaraugus County. Information on his condition hasn’t been released.
The family of Miller told NBC that they believe he will recover from the wound.
“I know he’s going to make it because he’s way tougher than that,” said brother Tim Miller.
Patrick was shot in the stomach and underwent surgery on Wednesday, the family said.
His mother Carol described the emotion upon hearing the news.
“I wanted to sit down all of a sudden. It was like, ‘Oh my God!’” Carol Miller said.
Lopez shot himself and was identified later the day of the shooting as the gunman.
A motive for the shooting hasn’t been announced by authorities, who are still investigating.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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