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Local survivor from first Ft. Hood shooting still copes with tragedy

NORWOOD, N.C. — Every day Sgt. Matt Cooke deals with the emotional and physical injuries he suffered in the first Fort Hood massacre in 2009.
 
Cooke and his parents told Eyewitness News how they're coping after this new round of violence.
 
"There's so much suffering going on right now that is so unnecessary," Diane Frappier, Cooke's mother, said.
 
Right now, they said they are frustrated and disappointed.
 
"It's brought everything back," Frappier said.
 
Cooke's mother and stepfather, Jerry Frappier said neither security nor attention placed on mental health has changed since the 2009 shooting.
 
That is why Cooke told Eyewitness News he is shocked but not surprised something like this happened again.
 
"The security has not changed," Cooke said.
 
In 2009, Cooke was at Fort Hood getting ready to deploy for his third time when army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan opened fire killing 13 people and injuring 30 others. Cooke was shot five times.
 
"All five shots should have been fatal and they weren't," Jerry Frappier said.
 
Cooke is left with physical and mental injuries.
 
"I'm not the same," he said.
 
He suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder.
 
Cooke and other wounded veterans were in Fort Hood last week for the Ride 2 Recovery.
 
The road for the family is still long and now they said more families will have to go through the anger and anxiety they've been dealing with for the past four and a half years.
 
"What else has to happen?" Cooke said. "How many more lives do we have to take in order for something to happen? I was saved that day by God and someday he will tell me what that reason is for."