Dorothy Carskadon is a member of St. Chad's Episcopal Church in Loves Park. Her priest blessed her here just two weeks ago, before she headed off to Fort Hood. Now members of the congregation and the community are in shock that something this tragic could hit this close to home.

The aftermath of Thursday's Fort Hood shooting has left many stateliner's in disbelief.

"This was just unbelievable, just unbelievable that this could happen," says Lois Hansen.

World War 2 veteran, Bob LaPier says, "usually, you don't see nothing like that happen here at a base in the U.S."

The VFW Hall here in Loves Park was full of vets and their families this afternoon. And while flags were being raised to half staff outside, the Fort Hood shooting was the topic of discussion inside.

"It really shocked me, really, being on an army base like that, of course I guess going overseas for two or three times, that kind of works on your mind," says LaPier.

Former Rockford resident, Captain Dorothy Carskadon was in the middle of the incident. She's in stable condition at the Fort Hood hospital after being shot.

"It was shocking because I hadn't heard yet anything on the news that anything had happened," says Dorothy's priest, Kyungja Oh.

Dorothy has attended Oh's church here in Loves Park for six years. Two weeks ago Dorothy was Blessed right here before her departure to Fort Hood. Oh says, "this is a dangerous occupation, we all know that but to have it happen when you're still at home in a complex that house military personnel its a shock."

But for many the most surprising fact is that shooter was a psychiatrist for the troops. "There had to be something wrong and somebody should have noticed, someone should have noticed," says Hansen.

Dorothy's priest says Dorothy was in surgery all night, but is in stable condition now. The church is raising money to help pay for Dorothy's families expenses while they're in Texas.