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by CBS/AP
November 5, 2009
Federal law enforcement officials said the suspected Fort
Hood, Texas, shooter had come to their attention at least six months ago
because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other
threats.
The officials said the postings appeared to have been made
by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was first reported dead, but is now known
to be custody following a shooting incident that left least 12 dead and
31 wounded. The officials said they are still trying to confirm that he
was the author and an official investigation was not opened.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to discuss the case.
One posting originated with an essay posted on Scribd.com,
the popular document-sharing Web site, which argued that suicide
bombings were not authorized by Islamic law. It said, for instance, that
"it should be quite obvious that all of the 'evidences' used to justify
suicide bombing by way of analogy are rather tenuous."
A subsequent, poorly-spelled comment from a user named "NidalHasan"
posted in May 2009 seemed to take issue with that analysis. "If one
suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off
guard that would be considered a strategic victory," the comment said.
"You can call them crazy i [sic] you want but their act was not one of
suicide that is despised by Islam."
It's difficult to know from a single comment, of course, if
that "NidalHasan" was the account used by the same person now in custody
after the shooting. A public records search lists at least half a dozen
people in the United States with the same first and last name.
After news of the shooting began to spread on Thursday,
Internet pranksters quickly took action. On Vitals.com, a Web site
featuring profiles of doctors, someone posted a comment purporting to be
from a "conscientious objector" treated by Hasan. A statement from
Vitals.com said the comment -- featuring yesterday's date stamp -- was
actually posted an hour after the shooting and appears to be
"fictitious."
Earlier, officials said the suspected shooter at Fort Hood
was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years
before being transferred to the Texas base in July. Officials who had
access to Hasan’s military record said he received a poor performance
evaluation while at Walter Reed.
A source tells the CBS News that Hasan is a licensed
psychiatrist in Bethesda, Md. He was a drug and rehab specialist who got
his Virginia psychiatry license July 12, 2005.
The Virginia-born soldier is single with no children. He is
39 years old.
Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said generals at Fort
Hood told her that Hasan was about to deploy overseas. Retired Col.
Terry Lee, who said he had worked with Hasan, told Fox News he was being
sent to Afghanistan.
Lee said Hasan had hoped Obama would pull troops out of
Afghanistan and Iraq and got into frequent arguments with others in the
military who supported the wars.
Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque Hasan attended in
Silver Spring, Maryland, said he spoke often with Hasan about how Hasan
wanted to find a wife. Hasan was a lifelong Muslim and attended prayers
regularly, often in his Army uniform, Khan said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the
shootings and urged the nation to remain calm as Americans reacted to
the tragic events.
"No political or religious ideology could ever justify or
excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was
particularly heinous in that it targeted our nation's all-volunteer army
that includes thousands of Muslims in all services,” said CAIR National
Executive Director Nihad Awad . “We again offer our thoughts and prayers
for the victims and sincere condolences for the families of those killed
or injured.”
Hasan is a graduate of Virginia Tech University, where he
was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry
in 1997. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed
Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. At
Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
Nidal Hasan appeared on the Virginia Tech dean's list,
according to a June 1994 article in the Roanoke Times newspaper. He was
promoted to captain in the Army Medical Service Corps in early 2003.
According to the Army Times, Hasan was promoted to Major,
medical corps on April 22, 2009.
Fort Hood Rampage Suspect Still Alive
by CBS/AP
November 5, 2009
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is the suspected shooter at Fort
Hood, officials say. (CBS/AP)
A military mental health doctor facing deployment overseas
opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post on Thursday, setting off on a
rampage that killed 12 people and left 31 wounded, Army officials said.
Authorities said immediately after the shootings that they
had killed the suspected shooter, but later in the evening they recanted
and said that he was alive and in stable condition at a hospital,
watched by a guard.
“His death is not imminent,” said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort
Hood. He offered little explanation for the mistake, other than to say
there was confusion at the hospital.
A law enforcement official identified the shooting suspect
as Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. The official spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
The violence was believed to be the worst mass shooting in
history at a U.S. military base.
The shooting began around 1:30 p.m., when shots were fired
at the base's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to
be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening, Cone said.
It was unclear what the motive was, though it appeared he
was upset about a scheduled deployment. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
said the Army major was about to deploy overseas, though it was unclear
if he was headed to Iraq or Afghanistan and when he was scheduled to
leave. Hutchison said she was told about the upcoming deployment by
generals based at Fort Hood.
Soldier Opens Fire at Ft. Hood; 13 Dead
by CBS/AP
November 6, 2009
A military mental health doctor facing deployment overseas
opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post on Thursday, setting off on a
rampage that killed 13 people and left 31 wounded, Army officials said.
Authorities said immediately after the shootings that they
had killed the suspected shooter, but later in the evening they recanted
and said that he was alive and in stable condition at a hospital,
watched by a guard.
Fort Hood head of media relations Christopher Haug said
early Friday morning that 13 people had been killed in the rampage.
The shooting suspect was identified as Army Maj. Nidal
Malik Hasan.
Haug said Hasan was in “stable but serious” condition at a
nearby hospital, under guard by law enforcement authorities. Haug said
Army officials, “don't believe he’s in a condition to speak.”
The violence was believed to be the worst mass shooting in
history at a U.S. military base.
The shooting began around 1:30 p.m., when shots were fired
at the base's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to
be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening. 'It was
unclear what the motive was, though it appeared he was upset about a
scheduled deployment. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the Army major
was about to deploy overseas, though it was unclear if he was headed to
Iraq or Afghanistan and when he was scheduled to leave. Hutchison said
she was told about the upcoming deployment by generals based at Fort
Hood.
Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque Hasan attended in
Silver Spring, Maryland, said he spoke often with Hasan about how Hasan
wanted to find a wife. Hasan was a lifelong Muslim and attended prayers
regularly, often in his Army uniform, Khan said.
CBS News reports that Hasan, 39, is a licensed psychiatrist
who has lived in Bethesda and Silver Spring, Md. and Roanoke, Va. A
spokesman for Texas Sen. Hutchison said Hasan was upset about an
upcoming deployment to Iraq.
The victims of the shooting have not been identified but
Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort Hood said that the slain included U.S.
soldiers and a civilian police officer working at the base. He said that
no children had been killed to his knowledge.
"It's a terrible tragedy. It's stunning," Cone said.
"Soldiers and family members and many of the great civilians that work
here are absolutely devastated."
The wounded are dispersed among several central Texas
hospitals and the extent of their injuries varied, Cone said.
President Obama, speaking before a scheduled event in
Washington, said, "It's difficult enough when we lose these brave
Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come
under fire at an Army base on American soil."
"I would ask all Americans to keep the men and women of
Fort Hood in your thoughts and prayers. We will make sure that we get
answers to every single question about this horrible incident," Obama
said.
The Army post was locked down until at around 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, but Cone said that all of the deaths and injuries had taken
place during the initial 1:30 p.m. incident and that authorities were
simply exercising and abundance of caution in lifting the lockdown.
FBI agents have responded to the base and the military is
asking the FBI's help in investigating the backgrounds of the two
soldiers held as suspects in the shooting, Cone said.
A law enforcement official says investigators are trying to
determine if Hasan was his birth name, or if he changed his name and
converted to Islam at some point in his life.
Military officials say Hasan worked at the Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Washington, D.C. for six years before being
transferred to the Texas base in July. The officials had access to
Hasan's military record. They said he received a poor performance
evaluation while at Walter Reed.
He is a graduate of Virginia Tech University, where he was
a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in
1997. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed
Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. At
Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
During the attack, terrified military families turned to
Twitter to find out what was happening, reports CBS News correspondent
David Martin.
One tweet read, "locked in my post housing, scared, don't
know where the shooters are." Another: "haven't heard warning sirens in
about 15 minutes, just waiting to get to my husband. And a third,
capturing the shock brought on by today's attack: "i thought i was
living in one of the safest places ever."
There has been some confusion about the exact location of
the shooting. Cone said that the shooting took place in the Readiness
Center but that the two surviving suspects were taken into custody in an
"adjacent facility."
At the Soldier Readiness Center, soldiers who are about to
be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening - on average
about 300-400 screened a day, said Sgt. Rebekah Lampam, a spokeswoman at
Fort Hood.
A graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college
courses while deployed was going on in an auditorium at the Readiness
Center at the time of the shooting, said Lampam said.
Greg Schanepp, U.S. Rep. John Carter's regional director in
Texas, was representing Carter at the graduation, a Carter spokesman
said.
Schanepp was at the ceremony when a soldier who had been
shot in the back came running toward him and alerted him of the
shooting, Stone said. The soldier told Schanepp not to go in the
direction of the shooter, he said. Stone said he believes Schanepp was
in the theater.
"I was here for a 2 p.m. graduation," Schannep, a retired
Army colonel, told the Temple Daily Telegram. "As I drove up, I heard
some shots. A soldier came running past me and said, 'Sir there is
someone shooting.'
"I heard three or four volleys of shots with eight to 12
shots in each volley. Initially, I thought it was a training exercise,"
he said.
The shootings on the Texas military base stirred memories
of other recent mass shootings in the United States, including 13 dead
at a New York immigrant center in March, 10 killed during a gunman's
rampage across Alabama in March and 32 killed in the deadliest mass
shooting in modern U.S. history at Virginia Tech in 2007.
In May, a U.S. soldier opened fire at a counseling center
on a U.S. military base in Iraq, killing five fellow soldiers. An
investigation showed that that shooter had shown signs of mental
problems for months.
And Fort Hood itself has a history of violent incidents,
reports CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.
Around the country, some bases stepped up security
precautions, but no others were locked down.
A woman interviewed by CBS affiliate KWTX in Waco shortly
after the shooting said that news of the shooting had reached her
husband and other U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq.
At 2 p.m. emergency responders en route to Fort Hood were
told that their planned staging area, Soldier's Dome, was not safe to
use, the Temple Daily Telegram reports.
Banks said it is too soon to tell whether there is any link
to battle stress or repeated deployments. The Army is suffering a
record high suicide rate and other signs of stress from fighting two
wars.
In a statement, Hutchison said, "I am shocked and saddened
by today's outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our
brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others. My
heart goes out to their loved ones. Our dedicated military personnel
have sacrificed so much in service to our country, and it sickens me
that the men and women of Fort Hood have been subjected to this
senseless, random violence."
Covering 339 square miles, Fort Hood is the largest active
duty armored post in the United States. Home to about 52,000 troops as
of earlier this year, the sprawling base is located halfway between
Austin and Waco.
The base is home to nine schools - seven elementary schools
and two middle schools - and all were on lockdown, said Killeen school
spokesman Todd Martin.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange
said Texas Rangers and state troopers were en route to Fort Hood to help
seal the perimeter of the 108,000 acre base.
Fort Hood officially opened on Sept. 18, 1942, and was
named in honor of Gen. John Bell Hood. It has been continuously used for
armored training and is charged with maintaining readiness for combat
missions.
What was Fort Hood Shooter's Motive?
by CBS/AP
November 5, 2009
(CBS/ AP) Why did the man accused of opening fire at Fort
Hood snap? Reports indicate that he was both angry at the U.S.
involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, and had also been harassed because
of his Mideastern background.
A man who said he was a first cousin of Maj. Nidal Malik
Hasan told Fox News that his cousin had been harassed by other military
due to his Mideastern background.
Military officials first said Hasan was killed by their
response, but later Thursday night said he was wounded and in stable
condition.
"Things from the war probably affected him psychologically.
He dealt with some harassment from some of his military colleagues … and
he hired a military attorney to have it resolved," said the cousin,
Nader Hasan.
"It was the harassment that got to him," said the cousin,
saying other soldiers "referenced his MidEast ethnicity, even though he
was born and raised here. Went to high school in North Virginia, went to
Virginia Tech., never been in trouble, played sports."
A man who work with Hasan at the Fort Hood psychiatric ward
said Hasan was angry about the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"He said, first of all, we should not be over there," said
Col Terry Lee to Fox News. "There were several comments he made." Lee
said he told Hasan to "lock it up," and that it was the time to make his
views public.
"He said precisely that maybe the Muslims should stand up
and fight against the aggressors. And at first, you know, we thought he
was talking about that Muslims should stand up and help the armed forces
in Iraq and Afghanistan, but, apparently, that was not the case, because
there was other times he would make comments to other individuals about
how we should not be in the war in the first place," Lee told Fox News.
"He was hoping that President Obama would pull troops out
and that things would settle down, and when things were not going that
way, he became more agitated and more frustrated with the conflicts over
there, and he would just -- he made his views well known about how he
felt about the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hasan's anger may have reached boiling point when he found
out he was soon to be deployed.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said Hasan was about to
be deployed overseas. Hutchison says she was told about the upcoming
deployment by generals based at Fort Hood. But it was unclear if he was
headed to Iraq or Afghanistan and exactly when he was scheduled to
leave.
Federal law enforcement officials said Hasan had come to
their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings
that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.
One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog
that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a
grenade to save the lives of his comrades.
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