JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The shooting at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida on Friday morning marks the fourth mass shooting at a U.S. military base in 2019. There have been more than 20 U.S. military base shootings since 1993.
In the wake of these recent attacks on military grounds, Patrick Zeigler is sharing his perspective.
Zeigler is a former army staff sergeant who served two tours in Iraq, but the greatest threat he faced as a soldier was back on U.S. soil ten years ago. He was one of more than 30 people injured in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas.
"It can happen anywhere, anytime, I learned that a long time ago," said Zeigler.
Zeigler is happy to be alive today. He's undergone intensive treatments to get to where he is physically and mentally today. He's recently started his own business. He says the trauma stays with you, but you can never give up hope.
Zeigler says he was not armed at the time of the shooting at Fort Hood, but he believes the outcome could have been different if other military personnel in the room were armed. He believes that would have resulted in fewer victims.
"I was the second person who was shot, and it was a split second, there was not enough time to act," he said.
When he hears of another mass shooting, he says he instantly feels nauseous and no amount of media attention can capture the heartbreak and frustration he feels.
"It doesn’t explain the gut feeling," he said. "You feel like you get punched in the gut when it happens to someplace you know."
Zeigler believes mass shooter training on military bases isn’t cutting it today. He wants it to be a part of the curriculum and practiced every week because even in the strictest environments, he says mistakes happen.
"Military personnel are just humans, just because you’re on a base doesn’t mean that you’re safe from any of that weakness and that evil," he said. "It's not that we have to be paranoid, but we have to be aware and mentally prepared for anything at any time."
Looking back at his own experience, he says there always seems to be a warning sign that’s missed with the suspect, and a weapon then ends up in the hands of the weak, rather than of the strong.
"It’s like a never-ending battle between good and evil," he said. "There's people who just want to go about their day, and then people who want to involve everyone in their problems. People are unable to deal with their own problems and then suddenly they take it out on everyone around them."