FORT HOOD, Texas – People in battle zones were among those anxiously trying to reach loved ones in Texas.

An Army journalist based in Iraq posted the transcript of an exchange with his wife, who is living at Fort Hood. He tried to reach her by telephone and turned to e-mail when she did not answer. She told him there had been shootings, a lockdown of Fort Hood, and an order to secure all doors and windows.

"This is ridiculous," Naveed Ali Shah, the soldier, told his wife. "I'm in the war zone, not you!"

The identities of the dead or wounded weren't released by Thursday night, adding to the worry worldwide.

One of the dead was a civilian police officer, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander at Fort Hood.

"It's a terrible tragedy. It's stunning," Cone said.

The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in Central Texas, Cone said.

Some relatives received limited information about the wounded.

Amber Bahr, 19, was shot in the stomach but was in stable condition, said her mother, Lisa Pfund of Random Lake, Wis.

"We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly," Pfund said. She couldn't provide more details.

Some at the scene reported heroic acts even by those who had suffered wounds.

The Rev. Greg Schannep was about to head into a graduation ceremony when a man in uniform approached him, warning him that someone had opened fire. Schannep heard three volleys of gunfire and saw people running.

"There was a burst of shots and more bursts of shots and people running everywhere," said Schannep, who works for U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock.

The uniformed man who had warned him ran to the theater. Schannep said he could see the man's back was bloodied from a wound.

The man survived, was treated and will be fine, Schannep said.

The Associated Press,

The Washington Post