Report: Fort Bliss Shooter Was Retired Military Man

(Sept. 21) -- The Fort Bliss shooter who killed one woman and wounded another at a convenience store on the Texas Army base before being killed by police was reportedly a former employee of the store and a retired military man himself.

The FBI has identified the shooter as Steven Kropf, 63, a retired sergeant major from El Paso.

Gate Soldiers inspect all vehicles entering Fort Bliss, home of the United States Army Air Defense Artillery Center, for current post registration stickers and Department of Defense and military ID cards September 17, 2001 in Texas.

Bobbie DeHerrera, Getty Images

Soldiers inspect all vehicles entering Fort Bliss in this 2001 file photo. A convenience store on the west Texas base, where a former employee allegedly shot two women Monday, remains blocked off.

Bettina Maria Goins, 44, died of a gunshot wound to the head, the FBI said in a statement obtained by AOL News. The west Texas base's commander, Col. Joseph A. Simonelli Jr., told reporters Monday evening that shots rang out at the convenience store at around 3 p.m., and that police were on the scene in about three minutes. Officers shot and killed the shooter, he said.

"Our law enforcement agents took it upon themselves to react immediately and aggressively, and I think that's the main reason why this didn't escalate further than it is right now," Simonelli said, according to The Associated Press.

Goins, a mother of two, had gone to the convenience store to buy Halloween candy, her daughter said today. "He took her away from us. It was senseless," Maria-Laura Nasti told The El Paso Times.

The other victim, also a woman, suffered gunshot wounds to the head, the Times reported. The Beaumont Army Medical Center didn't release information about her condition. El Paso Mayor John Cook told the newspaper that both women worked at the convenience store.

The store is one of several government-operated shopettes on Fort Bliss, and employees are typically civilians rather than military personnel, KFOX reported. Military police continued to block off the store early today.

Several thousand U.S. military personnel are stationed at Fort Bliss, which stretches over parts of New Mexico and Texas and is home to the Army's 1st Armored Division.