Issue Date: November 05, 2009

Army Doctor Held in Shooting Rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, 13 Killed

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Suspect Was Being Deployed to Afghanistan

AP Photo/Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of killing 13 people and wounding 28 others in a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5.

An Army psychiatrist November 5 opened fire on military personnel at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding at least 28 others before he was shot by emergency responders, according to police. The suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was hospitalized and reportedly was in stable condition. The incident was one of the worst mass shootings to occur at a military base in the U.S. [See 2009 Armed Forces: News in Brief; 2009 Crime: Gunman Kills Three in Pennsylvania Gym Shooting]

Hasan was reportedly distressed about his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, which would have been his first overseas posting. Fort Hood's top military commander, Lieutenant General Robert Cone, said the shooting was probably not an act of terrorism, although that had not been ruled out. [See 2009 President Karzai Declared Winner of Afghan Election; Ruling Follows Withdrawal of Rival Abdullah; Other Developments]

According to Army officials, Hasan opened fire on people gathered in a crowded soldier readiness facility, where soldiers awaiting or returning from overseas deployments were waiting to see doctors. The dead included 12 military service members and one civilian. The base was locked down, and military personnel secured areas including a nearby auditorium full of soldiers graduating from college.

Armed police responded as the shooting continued, and a civilian police officer, Kimberly Munley, shot Hasan four times; Munley was also wounded in the exchange. (Initial reports had erroneously said both Hasan and Munley were killed.) Hasan was hospitalized off the base, and placed under guard.

Hasan reportedly used two pistols, including one semiautomatic pistol. Military personnel on the base were authorized to keep registered personal weapons, although it was not known if Hasan's pistols were registered. Service members on the base generally went unarmed.

President Barack Obama in a televised address called the shootings "a horrific outburst of violence," and promised "to get answers to every single question about this horrible incident." He added, "It is difficult enough when we lose these men and women in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."

Fort Hood was the largest active duty military post in the U.S., with some 50,000 service members and 150,000 family members and civilian personnel. It was a major hub for troops deploying to or returning from military service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fort Hood was 100 miles (160 km) south of Dallas-Fort Worth, and near the town of Killeen; Killeen in 1991 had been the site of the worst mass shooting in the U.S. at that point, in which a gunman killed 22 people at a cafeteria and then himself. [See 1991 Crime: 24 Dead in Worst U.S. Mass Shooting]

Shooter's Motives Probed

Hasan, 39, had been born in Arlington, Virginia, to Palestinian immigrant parents, and was single. Media reports said he was a devout Muslim, but had listed "no religious preference" on his military records. Hasan in 1995 had joined the Army, which put him through medical school.

Coworkers and family members said he thought the U.S. should not be fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and had unsuccessfully sought a military discharge for several years after being harassed for his ethnicity and Muslim faith. They said he had been deeply affected by the horrific injuries and mental trauma suffered there by soldiers he treated for combat-related mental problems at Washington, D.C.'s Walter Reed Medical Center, and then at Fort Hood after he was transferred there in July.

The Associated Press (AP) November 5 reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had become aware of Hasan months earlier after they found Internet postings under the screen name "NidalHasan" expressing admiration for suicide bombers. However, Hasan had not been definitively linked to the screen name.

Cone said that according to some witnesses, Hasan had shouted "Allahu akbar"--Arabic for "God is great"--during the shooting, but other Army officials said they could not confirm that.

Two U.S. Muslim groups, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, issued statements condemning the attack.