Lt. Col. Mary Jo Rohrer suspected the worst violence of her military career was behind her.

After eight months treating wounded soldiers at the combat support hospital in Baghdad, the chief cardiologist at the Brooke Army Medical Center now spends her days in staff meetings or giving last-minute examinations to soldiers before they're deployed.

Then, on Thursday, the shooting started.

"MJ," as her friends call her, is the daughter of Mary Rohrer, a Winona State University administrator and resident of La Crosse, Wis.

MJ was at Fort Hood when military officials say army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire, killing 13 and injuring 30 in one of the deadliest days for the nation's military since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

Mary found out about the shootings from a news e-mail.

"My heart just went into my throat," she said, "because, 'Oh my god. That's where my daughter works.'"

Frantic phone calls to Fort Hood wouldn't go through - too many people were trying to call the base - but, eventually, Mary spoke to MJ's husband, who said her daughter was OK.

MJ was treating the wounded in the clinic's intensive care unit and trying to save the lives of the 13 who eventually died. She personally knew some of the wounded.

Mary talked late Thursday night with her daughter, who painted a violent and chaotic scene.

As MJ examined soldiers preparing for deployment, the base was locked down, and wounded soldiers began pouring into the clinic. Before long, even the delivery rooms were being used for surgery, Mary said her daughter told her. MJ likened the scene to those she experienced in Iraq.

But this was different.

"We feel violated," MJ said in the phone call with Mary. "Here it was on American soil."

Hasan was transferred Friday to the Brooke Army Medical Center, where MJ is normally stationed, and is in stable condition, The Associated Press reported.

MJ didn't get much sleep Thursday night, her mother said. None of the doctors wanted to sleep.

As for Mary, she is simply grateful her daughter is safe.

"As a parent of a military person, you just have to have faith," she said. "And do your best to carry on."