Three people were killed on Wednesday and 16 were injured when a lone gunman opened fire at Fort Hood. All of them were members of the military.

Sgt. First Class Danny Ferguson, a native of Mulberry, Fla, who died holding a door to protect a room full of soldiers. "He held that door shut because it wouldn't lock. It seems the doors would be bullet proof, but apparently they're not,” his fiancé Kristen Haley told wtsp.com.

Army Sgt. Timothy Owens, a 37-year-old Illinois soldier, was also killed in the shooting.

Carlos Lazaney, 38, was the third soldier killed. "It wouldn't surprise me if he was trying to evacuate people, because he's just that kind of guy,” a friend told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Thursday.

Nine of the 16 injured were taken to Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Tex., doctors say. Three remained in critical condition on Thursday morning, while others are expected to be discharged later in the day. What happened to remaining seven who were injured remains unconfirmed.

"The [patients] who are awake and talking are in good spirits," Dr. Matthew Davis, trauma director at Scott and White Memorial, told reporters.

All of the critical patients are all suffering from gunshot wounds. One was hit in the neck, another has a potential spine injury, and the third is suffering from an abdominal injury. They are all on ventilators, and some will require additional surgery, Dr. Davis said.

Image: Tamir Kalifa/Associated Press

All of the nine patients at the hospital, which is located just minutes from Fort Hood, where the shooting took place, are current military members; some are as young as 21, while others are in their 40s. Eight are male and one is female, and all are expected to survive.

Dr. Alexander Thompson, chairman of the hospital's Department of Psychiatry, said the shooting would be emotionally tough on the victims, many of whom have recently returned from trying tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"The likelihood that somebody would have a difficult emotional response to [the shooting] is high," Dr. Thompson said. Many of the servicemen have returned and had combat experience, he said, noting that now experiencing this kind of violence at home would be tough on them.

Dr. Davis commended the staff at Fort Hood's Darnell Hospital for their exceptional job stabilizing the patients before sending them over to Scott and White Memorial in the moments after the incident.

News of the shooting immediately brought to mind the deadly rampage on the same base on Nov. 5, 2009, when Maj. Nidal Hasan, who had been an Army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others with a semiautomatic pistol.

Hasan, a Muslim, had been opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prosecutors and Hasan himself said that he feared deployment to a war zone and wanted to commit jihad to protect fellow Muslims from American troops.

Fort Hood Commanding General Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley said there was no known motive for Wednesday's shooting, but military officials believe it has no link to terrorism.

Amanda Wills and Jonathan Ellis contributed to this report.

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