Fort Hood killer captured alive

6 Nov 2009, 3:09 pm   -   Source: AFP/SBS
0 Comments
Share This
+ Comment
0

A Muslim army officer about to be deployed to Iraq shot dead 12 people and wounded 31 others at a Texas military base before being gunned down and captured.

RELATED

A Muslim army officer about to be deployed to Iraq shot dead 12 people and wounded 31 others at a Texas military base before being gunned down and captured.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist, opened fire with two handguns at a processing centre at Fort Hood for troops being deployed on missions to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Initial reports suggested Hasan had been shot and killed in the incident, but they were later withdrawn.

"There was a single shooter that was shot multiple times at the scene," Lieutenant General Bob Cone, commander of the base, said.

"He was not killed as previously reported. He is currently in custody and in stable condition."

 Cone confirmed that Hasan had shot dead 12 people, raising an earlier toll of 11, before being shot himself by a "female civilian officer", thought to be the first responder on scene.

The killing spree began about 1.30pm on Thursday (6.30am AEDT Friday), when at least one soldier opened fire on fellow troops at the base, one of the world's largest military facilities.

Gunman's path blocked

The shooting took place as soldiers were awaiting medical and dental treatment at a processing centre at Fort Hood for troops being deployed on missions to Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

The "preponderance" of the victims were military personnel, but there were also two civilians involved, Cone added.

Further bloodshed was narrowly prevented when the gunman was apparently blocked from reaching a graduation ceremony attended by some 600 people, just metres away from the scene.

"Thanks to the quick reaction of several soldiers, they were able to close off the doors to that auditorium," Cone said.

After interviewing over 100 people at the scene investigators appear to have ruled out the possibility that Hasan acted with an accomplice.

"There were initially three held. All have been interviewed, and at this time we believe the evidence indicates it was a single shooter," Cone said.

President's tribute to victims

President Barack Obama, who had been kept informed of the shooting as the drama was tracked in the White House situation room, denounced the attack as a "horrific outburst of violence".

"My immediate thoughts and prayers are with the wounded, and with the families of the fallen," Obama 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."

The US Senate held a moment of silence late on Thursday in sombre acknowledgement of the shooting rampage.

Fort Hood, a massive base that is more like a small town housing tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, was locked down after the shooting for several hours.

Cone said he had been stunned by the incident, adding "soldiers and family members and many of the great civilians that work here are absolutely devastated.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

"I want to express my condolences to the soldiers, the families, and the civilians in this great community in central Texas. This is a tragedy, but we will work through it."

Many of the victims were taken to the Scott and White Memorial Hospital, which put out an urgent call for blood donations as streams of wounded poured into its emergency rooms.

"Due to the recent events on Fort Hood, we are in urgent need of all blood types," read a statement from the hospital.

Fort Hood has been working to rehabilitate many soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, local congressman John Carter told MSNBC.

The base in central Texas is the headquarters of the Army 3rd Corps, the 4th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division. All those units have seen extensive duty in Iraq.

Fatal shootings are rare at US military bases and Thursday's was one of the worst.

In May 2007, five men suspected of being Islamic militants were arrested by the FBI and charged with plotting to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey. Four were sentenced in April to life imprisonment, and the fifth to 30 years.

 

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.