The shooting at Fort Hood in Texas has Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peace Building looking into what possible factors could have driven Maj Nidal Malik Hasan to allegedly open fire on his fellow soldiers.

Barry Hart, a professor of trauma and conflict studies at EMU, believes that second-hand stress can build up over time and cause major problems.

Hart says, "When you are talking to someone who has primary traumatic stress, you can pick that up."

Elaine Zook Barge coordinates the Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience, or STAR, program. She believes trauma had a lot to do with the shooting at Fort Hood.

Barge says, "My immediate thought was, 'I wonder what the history of the person who did the shooting, what is the history? What is his story? What's the pain or unhealed trauma there?'"

Barge believes the Fort Hood shooting has affected local veterans.

She says, "I had a request from a local vet, basically saying we really need something, we need help."

Since the shooting, Barge believes the trauma center is realizing that need and wants to extend help.

Barge says, "We need to be doing more in this whole area of providing and sharing the STAR program with returning vets and their families."

The STAR program at EMU hopes to find additional funding to extend outreach to local veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan .