Enola, Pa. - As soon as local families heard news reports about the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas, immediately they thought about their loved ones. And those at the base thought about their families back here.

Army veteran Harrison Patno of Enola said he couldn't dial the phone fast enough when he first saw news reports about the shootings at Fort Hood. Patno's nephew Jesse Lauzon, Jesse's wife Katrina, and their children all live right on the base.

"We were all worried about it pretty much with everything that was going on," said Patno. "Everybody's OK now. We found out it was only like three miles from where they live on base."

And while everyone in the family is just fine, Katrina Lauzon, told us by phone from the base in Texas, that in the first few minutes, no one seemed to know what was happening. She said sirens started going off and an automatic phone message system, called all families on base.

"It told us to seek immediate shelter," said Lauzon. "Turn off our cable, ventilation and air conditioning. Lock windows, cover windows, cover doors."

Soon they learned it was all the work of one gunman who was in custody. Harrison Patno was stationed at the massive base back in the 1960s, so he knows how confusing it must have been for his family members in the minutes after the attack.

"It's a big base. A very, very big base," said Patno. "I think they said it's 300-some-odd miles of base."

 

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