Perry, Hutchison Avoid Politics in Shadow of Fort Hood Shooting
By OMAR VILLAFRANCA
Updated 1:37 PM CST, Fri, Nov 6, 2009
Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison put politics aside on Thursday after the shootings at Fort Hood.
Perry was on his way from Dallas to Denton when news broke of the shooting. Perry was on his way to a campaign meet and greet on campus at the University of North Texas in Denton. He ended up calling off the campaign event and hosted an impromptu press conference at 430 p.m. to talk about the events in Killeen.
"The state of Texas has had a significant loss today with a tragedy at Fort Hood." Perry told a room of college students and UNT alums. "Along with all Texans, Anita and I are keeping those affected in our prayers and hope you would do the same." Perry said.
Hutchison was in Washington when the news broke, and was on several cable news networks talking about the shooting.
"I'm horrified, just like everyone is, and immediately you think of the soldiers that are wounded and dead, their families already under stress because they were processing to deploy." Hutchison said from Washington. "They have really born a lot of the responsibility of the war on terror, so to have that happen in this particular base is really heartbreaking, it really is." she added.
Perry didn't say when he planned to head down to Fort Hood. The governor said the right people were in place, and that he didn't want his presence to become a distraction, but hinted that he would go to Fort Hood in the near future. Calls and emails for specific dates as to when the governor would be in Killeen were not answered.
NBCDFW.COM has confirmed with Hutchison's staff that the senator will be at Fort Hood on Friday.
First Published: Nov 6, 2009 12:02 AM CST
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