Fort Hood: "Recovery going to take a while". Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey discuss the ongoing investigation into the shootings at Fort Hood.
Those who know Kimberly Barbour Munley said they aren’t surprised the Carolina Beach native is the female civilian police officer credited for stopping the deadly shooting at Fort Hood, where 13 people were killed and several others injured.
Munley herself was injured, but she managed to shoot the gunman four times within three minutes of reported gunfire Thursday afternoon, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said Friday morning.
“She was not afraid of anything,” said Wrightsville Beach Police Chief John Carey, who knew Munley when she worked for the department from 2000 to 2002.
“She is very small, but she had no fear,” he said.
Cone lauded Munley for encountering suspected gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is hospitalized on a ventilator. “In an exchange of gunfire, she was wounded but managed to wound him four times,” Cone said. “It was an amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer.”
Munley, 34, is the daughter of former Carolina Beach mayor Dennis Barbour. She grew up in Carolina Beach and graduated in 1993 from Hoggard High School.
Her father and stepmother, Wanda Barbour, were busy Friday afternoon trying to get a flight to Fort Hood so they could visit Munley in the hospital, where she remained in stable condition. They were also fielding calls from local and national media, including CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Inside Edition, according to workers at Island Tackle and Hardware in Carolina Beach, which is owned by the Barbours.
“We’re just so grateful and thankful to the Lord that she’s safe,” Wanda Barbour said. “Our hearts just ache for the loss of others, too, and hers, too. She’s still upset about that.”
Barbour said she and her husband found out Thursday afternoon Munley was involved in the attack, but they didn’t find out until later she was the one the top commander at Fort Hood credited with stopping the shooting.
Like others, Barbour wasn’t surprised it was Munley who helped stop the shooter. “When they said a female officer, a little part of me just knew,” she said.
“She is a very great person with a great spirit,” she said.
Ron Strickland, a retired teacher from Hoggard High School, coached Munley’s volleyball team and remembered her as a fearless athlete who was interested in law enforcement.
“This doesn’t surprise me at all,” Strickland said of Munley’s heroism. “She was always very matter of fact.”
Munley graduated in 1999 from Cape Fear Community College’s Basic Law Enforcement program, said David Hardin, public information officer for the college.
Carey said the Wrightsville Beach Police Department was Munley’s first law enforcement job. She was first employed March 1, 2000 as a reserve officer and later worked as a beach patrol officer and as an officer in the Uniform Patrol Division. She left the department in February 2002.
Munley received three letters of commendation and recognition for her performance as a Wrightsville Beach police officer.
“The Town of Wrightsville Beach expresses our most sincere condolences to the families of the soldiers that were killed and wounded in the shooting that occurred yesterday at Fort Hood Texas,” a news release from the police department states. “The Town of Wrightsville Beach and the Wrightsville Beach Police Department are proud of Officer Munley’s quick action and her dedication to the highest ideals of police service and wish her a speedy and full recovery.”
On Friday afternoon, many people sent messages to Munley’s Twitter account, expressing gratitude and wishes for a speedy recovery.
In the biography section of Munley’s Twitter account, she summed up her life with the following message: “I live a good life … a hard one, but I go to sleep peacefully @ night knowing that I may have made a difference in someone’s life.”
The top commander at Fort Hood is crediting a civilian police officer for stopping the shooting rampage that killed 13 people at the Texas post. Lt. Gen. Bob Cone also hailed a young Army nutritionist who helped wounded victims.
Both women heroically intervened despite being shot.
Cone said Friday that Fort Hood police Sgt. Kimberly Munley and her partner responded within three minutes of reported gunfire Thursday afternoon. Cone said Munley shot the gunman four times despite being shot herself.
Officials said Munley was in stable condition.
Cone said, "It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer."
On Munley's Twitter page, Munley is pictured with country music star Dierks Bentley at the Fort Hood "Freedom Fest." Her Twitter bio read: 'I live a good life. ... a hard one, but I go to sleep peacefully @ night knowing that I may have made a difference in someone's life."
Munley's father, Dennis Barbour, was making plans to travel to Fort Hood to see his 34-year-old daughter on Friday, Starnewsonline.com in Wilmington, N.C., reported. Barbour is a former mayor of Carolina Beach, a barrier island town near Wilmington.
“We're just so grateful and thankful to the Lord that she's safe,” Munley's stepmother, Wanda Barbour told the newspaper Web site. “Our hearts just ache for the loss of others, too, and hers, too. She's still upset about that.”
Munley is a native of Carolina Beach and served as a police officer in Wrightsville Beach, Starnewsonline.com reported.
Cone also hailed Amber Bahr, 19, as an "amazing young lady."
The commander told NBC's TODAY show that the nutritionist put a tourniquet on a wounded soldier and carried him out to medical care. And only after she had taken care of others did she realize she had been shot, he said.
In and out of pain
On Thursday, her mother, Lisa Pfund, told the Sheboygan Press that she spoke briefly to Bahr after she was taken to a community hospital.
"I actually got to talk to Amber and I talked to her for about 30 seconds and she was in a lot of pain," Pfund said. "She couldn't tell me nothing, either."
Later that night, she was able to speak with her recovering daughter, she told the Sheboygan Press. She was "in and out of pain" and on medication but in good spirits, adding that she tried to help others during the rampage, the Sheboygan Press reported.
The suspected gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is hospitalized on a ventilator.
Fort Hood has set up a hotline for relatives of soldiers at the base to call for more information. The numbers, which are for family members only, are 254-288-7570 and 866-836 2751.
Relatives can also register and search on the Red Cross’ Safe and Well site to find out more.
Were red flags about the Fort Hood shooting suspect (Major Hasan) ignored?
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has long been accused of having ties to terrorists. Now the group may be facing its most serious charges yet.
Four Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, are calling for a federal investigation into CAIR. At a press conference on Capitol Hill, they cited explosive new documents contained in a new book about CAIR called "Muslim Mafia."
Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, in a press conference, clarifies that the Fort Hood suspect is not dead but is in the hospital in stable condition. The first responder, who was also reported dead, is also still alive and in stable condition.
Authorities say an Army psychiatrist opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post, killing 13 and wounding 30 in the worst mass shooting at a U.S. military base in history.
Federal agents investigate motive in Ft. Hood shootings. NBC Chief Justice Correspondent Pete Williams reports on the man suspected in the Fort Hood shooting rampage.
An Army psychiatrist who had counseled troops and was upset about being deployed to Iraq opened fire on a crowd of soldiers at Fort Hood Army base Thursday afternoon, killing 13 people and wounding 30, military officials said.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. citizen born in Virginia to Jordanian parents, was wounded by a civilian police officer responding to a shooting rampage that is believed to be the worst ever at a U.S. base, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, commanding general of Fort Hood.
Hasan was unconscious Friday, on a ventilator and in custody in a hospital. Immediately after the shootings, authorities began trying to determine whether the incident was a coordinated act or the work of a lone gunman. Three other people were questioned but were released, Cone said.
As of Friday morning, all of those wounded were listed in stable condition, said Col. Steven Braverman, hospital commander at the sprawling base. Half of those wounded required surgery, Braverman said.
Those who died included one civilian and 12 soldiers, military officials said at a morning news conference.
The shooter was wearing his uniform, said Col. John Rossi. Investigators are still tracing the handguns that were used in the shootings, Rossi said.
"We believe the evidence indicates it was a single shooter," Cone said late Thursday, adding that despite earlier widespread reports that Hasan had been killed, the alleged gunman's death was "not imminent."
Hasan, 39, is a Virginia Tech graduate who spent six years studying at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., before moving to Fort Hood, according to military records.
Nader Hasan, who described himself to Fox News as a cousin, said Hasan is a Muslim who went into the military against his parents' wishes. Nader Hasan called his cousin a "good American" who never got into trouble but added that he did not support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"He had always wanted to just get away from the war and (that) environment," Nader Hasan said. "He wasn't someone who even enjoyed going to the firing range.
"We're blown away as a family. We're shocked."
Noel Hamad, Nidal Hasan's aunt, said the family had not talked to Hasan since he arrived at Fort Hood.
"He didn't tell us he was going to deploy. We didn't know," Hamad said in an interview with USA TODAY from her home in Falls Church, Va. "He was trying to get out of the military since 9/11 because they were giving him a hard time," she said, without elaborating.
Fort Hood is home to the 1st Cavalry Division, whose soldiers have deployed multiple times to Iraq. At 339 square miles, it is one of the largest military bases in the world, and has been a focus of the Pentagon's efforts to counter rising wartime stress among troops.
The shootings occurred at Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers preparing to deploy overseas go for medical care and other duties. In an adjoining auditorium, 600 people had gathered to celebrate the college graduation of 138 soldiers, Cone said. When the shooting began, soldiers closed the doors to the auditorium to prevent the shooter from entering, he said.
Base officials locked down the base and began a building-by-building search across the fort that continued more than six hours after the shootings, said Hilary Shine, spokeswoman for the city of Killeen, which abuts Fort Hood.
Most of the dead and wounded are soldiers, Cone said. Two civilians were among the wounded.
Cone said he could not rule out terrorism but said the evidence "doesn't suggest that." He said he did not know whether the gunman had shot randomly or targeted certain people or units.
Ten of the shooting victims were taken to Scott and White Health System in nearby Temple. All arrived with gunshot wounds, said hospital spokesman Glen Couchman. He said four were in surgery late Thursday. The other six were in the emergency room and all would wind up in intensive care, he said.
He said hundreds of people had answered the hospital's request for blood donations immediately after the shootings.
The thirteenth death was announced early Friday by Fort Hood Spokesman Tyler Broadway. Late Thursday, officials said 12 people had been killed and 31 wounded in the afternoon attack. President Obama cut short his speech at the White House Tribal Nations Conference and consulted with Pentagon officials about the shooting.
"It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas," the president said. "It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."
He called it "a horrific outburst of violence" and said his administration will work for "answers to every single question."
Former president George W. Bush, whose ranch in Crawford, Texas, is about 20 miles from the perimeter of Fort Hood, said in a statement, "Laura and I are keeping the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time."
A disgruntled doctor
Hasan was born in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech university, according to The Roanoke Times archives.
He later received two degrees from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., according to Hasan's military record and a university newsletter.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin, was briefed by military officials and said Hasan had taken some unusual classes for someone studying about mental health.
"He took a lot of extra classes in weapons training, which seems a little odd for a psychiatrist," McCaul said.
McCaul said Hasan had received poor grades for his work at Walter Reed and was not happy about his situation in Fort Hood, where Hasan apparently felt like "he didn't fit in."
"He's disgruntled because he had a poor performance evaluation, he doesn't believe in the mission, he's looking at getting transferred to Afghanistan or Iraq," McCaul said. "He's not happy about all that."
McCaul added that officials planned to interview Hasan to try to determine for sure that he was not working with foreign agents.
"From an intelligence standpoint, that's key, finding out if he talked to anyone overseas," McCaul said.
Hasan had come to the attention of federal law enforcement officials at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.
The official said investigators were trying to confirm that Hasan was the author of the postings, one of which was a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades. One of the officials said federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorize seizure of Hasan's computer.
'It's just nerve-racking'
Soldiers and others described a chaotic scene at the base.
Sirens wailed as Tammy Biggers, wife of an Army specialist deployed in Iraq, huddled in her locked house, fielding phone calls from family and friends while sending text messages to her daughter at the local high school.
"Now I can't even get a hold of her. The cellphones are jammed. I can't even send a text," Biggers said. "They still have us on lockdown. I'm just staying right beside my computer with the news on and praying."
The basewide siren and announcement system, usually used to warn of tornadoes, instructed base residents to seek shelter, lock their doors and turn off the air-conditioning. Biggers had been outside her house with their chihuahua when she heard the first sirens.
"Down here you don't think a lot about sirens. It could be a training exercise," she said. Then came the orders to seek shelter. "It's just nerve-racking."
"It is crazy to see it happen on your home turf," said Army Sgt. Dominic Moes, 28, from Boyne City, Mich. "You don't really expect it at all, especially soldier-to-soldier. It's pretty shocking."
Moes was among hundreds of soldiers waiting outside the base, which had been locked down for hours. Dozens of cars were lined up at the gate, going nowhere.
"A lot of us deal with the stress but it's something else to hurt another soldier," said Moes, who said he has deployed to Iraq three times. "These are the guys we confide in. A lot of these soldier are as close to me as my own family."
Specialist David Straub, from Ardmore, Ala., waited in a line of cars to re-enter Fort Hood. He said he had twice deployed and was proud that both times they "came back with everybody."
"Now this happens," Straub said. "I feel like I've been stabbed in the back." 'Everything's locked down'
The shooting also rattled the city of Killeen, near the sprawling base.
About 15 children remained after hours at the Miles Ahead day-care center because parents were unable to leave the post when it was sealed off, said Tanisha Laws, 35, a cook at the center.
"You don't know who is who or what is what," Laws said.
There was only one customer inside the normally busy Henderson's Family Restaurant in Killeen.
"It's dead right now because everything's locked down," said cashier Kelly Kuehnle, 43. "It's a very oppressive atmosphere. Everybody's devastated."
Beauty salon owner Chemar Jones said she and three employees spent a nerve-wracking afternoon holed up in the Killeen salon with the front and doors locked. Jones was worried about her cousin, a medic with the military police on Fort Hood, who she tried multiple times to reach without success.
Shine, the Killeen spokeswoman, said she was "immediately reminded" of the 1991 massacre at the Luby's cafeteria in the city in which 23 were killed.
"Our community is restless and worried," Shine says. "Because a lot of people have family and friends working at Fort Hood, I know many are wondering if the victims are people they know. Unfortunately, for some, that is going to be true."
An Army psychiatrist facing deployment to one of America’s war zones killed 13 people and wounded 30 others on Thursday in a shooting rampage with two handguns at the sprawling Fort Hood Army post in central Texas, military officials said.
It was one of the worst mass shootings ever at a military base in the United States.
The gunman, who was still alive after being shot four times, was identified by law enforcement authorities as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, who had been in the service since 1995. Major Hasan was about to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, said Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas.
Clad in a military uniform and firing an automatic pistol and another weapon, Major Hasan, a balding, chubby-faced man with heavy eyebrows, sprayed bullets inside a crowded medical processing center for soldiers returning from or about to be sent overseas, military officials said.
The victims, nearly all military personnel but including two civilians, were cut down in clusters, the officials said. Witnesses told military investigators that medics working at the center tore open the clothing of the dead and wounded to get at the wounds and administer first aid.
As the shooting unfolded, military police and civilian officers of the Department of the Army responded and returned the gunman’s fire, officials said, adding that Major Hasan was shot by a first-responder, who was herself wounded in the exchange.
In the confusion of a day of wild and misleading reports, the major and the officer who shot him were both reported killed in the gun battle, but both reports were erroneous.
Eight hours after the shootings, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, a base spokesmen, said Major Hasan, whom he described as the sole gunman, had been shot four times, but was hospitalized off the base, under around-the-clock guard, in stable condition and was not in imminent danger of dying.
Another military spokesman listed the major’s condition as critical. The condition of the officer who shot the gunman was not given.
Major Hasan was not speaking to investigators, and much about his background — and his motives — were unknown.
General Cone said that terrorism was not being ruled out, but that preliminary evidence did not suggest that the rampage had been an act of terrorism. Fox News quoted a retired Army colonel, Terry Lee, as saying that Major Hasan, with whom he worked, had voiced hope that President Obama would pull American troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, had argued with military colleagues who supported the wars and had tried to prevent his own deployment.
As a parade of ambulances wailed to the scene of the shootings, officials said the extent of injuries to the wounded varied significantly, with some in critical condition and others lightly wounded. General Cone praised the first-responders and the medics who acted quickly to administer first aid at the scene.
“Horrible as this was, I think it could have been much worse,” the general said.
The rampage recalled other mass shootings in the United States, including 13 killed at a center for immigrants in upstate New York last April, the deaths of 10 during a gunman’s rampage in Alabama in March and 32 people killed at Virginia Tech in 2007, the deadliest shooting in modern American history.
As a widespread investigation by the military, the F.B.I., and other agencies began, much about the assault in Texas remained unclear. Department of Homeland Security officials said the Army would take the lead in the investigation.
A federal law enforcement official said the F.B.I. was sending more agents to join the inquiry. On Thursday night, F.B.I. agents were interviewing residents of a townhouse complex in the Washington suburb of Kensington, Md., where Major Hasan had lived before moving to Texas.
Mr. Obama called the shootings “a horrific outburst of violence” and urged Americans to pray for those who were killed and wounded.
“It is difficult enough when we lose these men and women in battles overseas,” he said. “It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.”
The president pledged “to get answers to every single question about this horrible incident.”
Military records indicated that Major Hasan was single, had been born in Virginia, had never served abroad and listed “no religious preference” on his personnel records. Three other soldiers, their roles unclear, were taken into custody in connection with the rampage. The office of Representative John Carter, Republican of Texas, said they were later released, but a Fort Hood spokesman could not confirm that. General Cone said that more than 100 people had been questioned during the day.
Fort Hood, near Killeen and 100 miles south of Dallas-Fort Worth, is the largest active duty military post in the United States, 340 square miles of training and support facilities and homes, a virtual city for more than 50,000 military personnel and some 150,000 family members and civilian support personnel. It has been a major center for troops being deployed to or returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The base went into lockdown shortly after the shootings. Gates were closed and barriers put up at all entrance and exit checkpoints, and the military police turned away all but essential personnel. Schools on the base were closed, playgrounds were deserted and sidewalks were empty. Sirens wailed across the base through the afternoon, a warning to military personnel and their families to remain indoors.
Military commanders were instructed to account for all personnel on the base.
“The immediate concern is to make sure that all of our soldiers and family members are safe, and that’s what commanders have been instructed to do,” said Jay Adams of the First Army, Division West, at Ford Hood.
General Cone said the shooting took place about 1:30 p.m., inside a complex of buildings that he called a Soldier Readiness Processing Center. The type of weapons used was unclear, and it was not known whether the gunman had reloaded, although it seemed likely, given that 43 people were shot, perhaps more than once.
All the victims were gunned down “in the same area,” General Cone said.
As the shootings ended, scores of emergency vehicles rushed to the scene, which is in the center of the fort, and dozens of ambulances carried the shooting victims to hospitals in the region.
Both of the handguns used by Major Hasan were recovered at the scene, officials said. Investigators said the major’s computers, cellphones and papers would be examined, his past investigated and his friends, relatives and military acquaintances would be interviewed in an effort to develop a profile of him and try to learn what had motivated his deadly outburst.
Major Hasan was assigned to the Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood.
The weapons used in the attack were described as “civilian” handguns. Security experts said the fact that two handguns had been used suggested premeditation, as opposed to a spontaneous act.
Rifles and assault weapons are conspicuous and not ordinarily seen on the streets of a military post, and medical personnel would have no reason to carry any weapon, they said. Moreover, security experts noted, it took a lot of ammunition to shoot 43 people, another indication of premeditation.
It appeared certain that the shootings would generate a whole new look at questions of security on military posts of all the armed forces in the United States. Expressions of dismay were voiced by public officials across the country.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council, speaking for many American Muslims, condemned the shootings as a “heinous incident” and said, “We share the sentiment of our president.”
The council added, “Our entire organization extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed as well as those wounded and their loved ones.”
General Cone said Fort Hood was “absolutely devastated.”
News of the shooting set off panic among families and friends of the base personnel. Alyssa Marie Seace’s husband, Pfc. Ray Seace Jr., sent her a text message just before 2 p.m. saying that someone had “shot up the S.R.P. building,” referring to the Soldier Readiness Processing Center. He told her he was “hiding.”
Ms. Seace, 18, who lives about five minutes from the base and had not been watching the news, reacted with alarm. She texted him back but got no response. She called her father in Connecticut, who told her not to call her husband because it might reveal his hiding place.
Finally, 45 minutes later, her husband, a mechanic who is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in February, texted back to say that three people from his unit had been hit and that a dozen people in all were dead.
By late afternoon, the sirens at Fort Hood had fallen silent. In Killeen, state troopers were parked on ridges overlooking the two main highways through town. In residential areas, the only signs of life were cars moving through the streets. In the business districts, people went about their business.
In 1991, Killeen was the scene of one of the worst mass killings in American history. A gunman drove his pickup truck through the window of a cafeteria, fatally shot 22 people with a handgun, then killed himself.
Fort Hood, opened in September 1942 as America geared up for World War II, was named for Gen. John Bell Hood of the Confederacy. It has been used continuously for armor training and is charged with maintaining readiness for combat missions.
It is a place that feels, on ordinary days, like one of the safest in the world, surrounded by those who protect the nation with their lives. It is home to nine schools — seven elementary schools and two middle schools, for the children of personnel. But on Thursday, the streets were lined with emergency vehicles, their lights flashing and sirens piercing the air as Texas Rangers and state troopers took up posts at the gates to seal the base.
Shortly after 7 p.m., the sirens sounded again and over the loudspeakers a woman’s voice that could be heard all over the base announced in a clipped military fashion: “Declared emergency no longer exists.”
The gates reopened, and a stream of cars and trucks that had been bottled up for hours began to move out.
Born and reared in Virginia, the son of immigrant parents from a small Palestinian town near Jerusalem, he joined the Army right out of high school, against his parents’ wishes. The Army, in turn, put him through college and then medical school, where he trained to be a psychiatrist.
But Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the 39-year-old man accused of Thursday’s mass shooting at Fort Hood, Tex., began having second thoughts about a military career a few years ago after other soldiers harassed him for being a Muslim, he told relatives in Virginia.
He had also more recently expressed deep concerns about being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. Having counseled scores of returning soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, first at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and more recently at Fort Hood, he knew all too well the terrifying realities of war, said a cousin, Nader Hasan.
“He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy,” Mr. Hasan said. “He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier became aware of Internet postings by a man calling himself Nidal Hasan, a law enforcement official said. The postings discussed suicide bombings favorably, but the investigators were not clear whether the writer was Major Hasan.
In one posting on the Web site Scribd, a man named Nidal Hasan compared the heroism of a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to protect fellow soldiers to suicide bombers who sacrifice themselves to protect Muslims.
“If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory,” the man wrote. It could not be confirmed, however, that the writer was Major Hasan.
Major Hasan was wounded and taken into custody by the Fort Hood police after the shooting rampage, in which 12 people were killed and at least 31 others were wounded.
Though Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas reported that Major Hasan was to be deployed this month, that could not be confirmed with the Army on Thursday night.
Nader Hasan said his cousin never mentioned in recent phone calls to Virginia that he was going to be deployed, and he said the family was shocked when it heard the news on television on Thursday afternoon.
“He was doing everything he could to avoid that,” Mr. Hasan said. “He wanted to do whatever he could within the rules to make sure he wouldn’t go over.”
Some years ago, that included retaining a lawyer and asking if he could get out of the Army before his contract was up, because of the harassment he had received as a Muslim. But Nader Hasan said the lawyer had told his cousin that even if he paid the Army back for his education, it would not allow him to leave before his commitment was up.
“I think he gave up that fight and was just doing his time,” Mr. Hasan said.
Nader Hasan said his cousin’s parents had both been American citizens who owned businesses, including restaurants and a store, in Roanoke, Va. He declined to confirm reports that they were Jordanian but said the parents, who are both dead, had immigrated from a small town near Jerusalem many years ago.
His mother’s obituary, in The Roanoke Times in 2001, said she was born in Palestine in 1952. It described her as a restaurant owner “known for her ability to keep sometimes rowdy customers out of trouble and always had a warm meal for someone who otherwise would not have anything to eat that evening.”
Records show that Major Hasan received an undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech and a medical degree at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He did a residency at Walter Reed Medical Center and worked there for years before a transfer to the Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood this year.
Major Hasan had two brothers, one in Virginia and another in Jerusalem, his cousin said. The family, by and large, prospered in the United States, Mr. Hasan said.
The former imam at a Silver Spring, Md., mosque where Major Hasan worshiped for about 10 years described him as proud of his work in the Army and “very serious about his religion.” The former imam, Faizul Khan, said that Major Hasan had wanted to marry an equally religious woman but that his efforts to find one had failed.
“He wanted a woman who prayed five times a day and wears a hijab, and maybe the women he met were not complying with those things,” the former imam said.
Mr. Hasan, 40, a lawyer in Virginia, described his cousin as a respectful, hard-working man who had devoted himself to his parents and his career.
Mr. Hasan said his cousin became more devout after his parents died in 1998 and 2001.
“His parents didn’t want him to go into the military,” Mr. Hasan said. “He said, ‘No, I was born and raised here, I’m going to do my duty to the country.’ ”
Fort Hood has set up a hotline for relatives of soldiers at the base to call for more information. The numbers, which are for family members only, are 254-288-7570 and 866-836 2751.
Relatives can also register and search on the Red Cross’ Safe and Well site to find out more.
A Day of mourning to be observed at Fort Hood. NBC’s Charles Hadlock reports that the Army base will observe a day of mourning Friday.
Homegrown violence strikes Fort Hood, Texas. Latest reports are that shooter US Army Major Hasan is not dead per Fort Hood Commander Lt. General Bob Cone.
An Army psychiatrist who opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding 31 others, was shot but captured alive, military officials said late Thursday.
The gunman, identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was wounded at the scene but was captured alive and was in stable condition, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, said at a press conference late Thursday.
Eleven of the victims died at the scene, military officials said. A 12th died later at a hospital, NBC station KCEN-TV of Waco reported. Cone said that most of those who were shot were military but two were civilians.
Cone also said that a female officer who was thought to be the first responder shot Hasan and was herself wounded and had undergone surgery at a hospital. It was not clear if the officer was a military policewoman or a civilian officer.
Col. Ben Danner said the suspect was shot at least four times. "I would say his death is not imminent," Cone said, adding that Hasan was in custody at a hospital.
It initially was reported that Hasan had been killed at the scene. But Cone said at the press conference that Hasan had been in custody since the incident occurred, and there was no explanation of the earlier report.
Poor performance evaluation
U.S. officials said Hasan was an Army psychiatrist, NBC News reported. Defense officials said Hasan, 39, arrived at Fort Hood in July after practicing for six years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, which included a fellowship in disaster and preventive psychiatry.
At Walter Reed, Hasan received a poor performance evaluation, according to an official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
There was no official word on motive. But Hasan was scheduled to be deployed overseas on Nov. 28, officials said. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said military officials had told her that Hasan was “pretty upset” about his deployment, which she said was to be to Iraq.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan was described as "upset" about his pending deployment to Iraq.
The Associated Press, quoting 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. The officials said they were still trying to confirm that he was the author.
Medical records on file in Virginia, where Hasan was born and was registered to practice, and Maryland, where he received his medical degree at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, revealed no disciplinary actions or formal complaints.
Two handguns used
Cone said the gunman used two handguns. He said that military officials believed that there was a single shooter.
Two other soldiers were taken into custody after the shooting, but Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said they were released.
A senior administration official told NBC News that the shootings could have been a criminal matter rather than a terrorism-related attack and that there was no intelligence to suggest a plot against Fort Hood.
Military and local hospital officials said the victims were a mixture of men and women, military and civilian. At least four local SWAT officers were among those wounded, KCEN reported.
"They shot me!"
Among the wounded was Pfc. Keara Bono, 21, of Independence, Mo., who was shot in the shoulder. She called her mother, Peggy McCarty, to let her know she would be OK.
Bono, who works with soldiers dealing with stress, arrived in Fort Hood only Wednesday from her previous posting in Topeka, Kan., NBC station KSN-TV of Wichita, Kan., reported. Her brother, Dustin, told the Kansas City Star that Bono was “mad more than anything.”
“They shot me! And I’m still here in this country!” Dustin Bono quoted his sister as saying.
Robin Geiser of Random Lake, Wis., said her 24-year-old son, who commands soldiers at Fort Hood, knew some of the victims. He had been scheduled to be in the readiness center Thursday ahead of his deployment in January, but he was spared because his day’s orders were changed and he was on the training ground, instead, Geiser said.
“I was terrified come January,” Geiser told NBC station WTMJ-TV of Milwaukee. “I’m doubly worried now. If you can’t be safe here ...”
Geiser said that in conversations with her son, he told her that “there’s a lot of anger in a lot of these soldiers.”
“Who knows what it stems from?” she asked.
Reminders of 1991 massacre
Fort Hood, one of the largest military complexes in the world, was put on lockdown until about 7 p.m. ET, as were schools in the area. Dozens of agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the post, federal officials said.
The base is surrounded by the town of Killeen, where a man shot and killed 23 people in a Luby’s restaurant in October 1991.
“Unfortunately, this is a day we had dreaded,” said Hilary Shine, a spokeswoman for the city of Killeen. “Every time you hear of a mass casualty situation in Killeen, you think of Luby’s. ...
“Here in City Hall, it’s panic,” Shine said. “We all have friends and family members who work or have business on Fort Hood.”
Speaking in Washington, President Barack Obama called the shootings a “horrific outburst.”
“It’s difficult enough when we lose these great Americans in battles overseas,” Obama said at the Interior Department. “It’s horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.”
Noting the Arabic nature of the gunman’s name, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington interest group, condemned “this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law.”
”No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence,” the council said in a statement. “The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.”
Shootings in deployment center
Emergency Services officials at Fort Hood said the incident began about 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. ET) when the gunman opened fire in the Soldiers Readiness Processing Center on the west side of the base. A spokesman for the base, Sgt. Major Jamie Posten, said the processing center was where soldiers “cycle through as they prepare to deploy.”
Retired Army Col. Greg Schannep, an aide to Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, who was on the post to attend a graduation service, told the Fort Hood Sentinel that he 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. But then, “a soldier came running past me and said, ‘Sir, there is someone shooting.’
“As he ran past me, I saw blood on his back,” Schannep told the base paper. “I don’t think he even knew he had been shot.”
The sprawling Fort Hood complex is home to at least 4,929 active-duty officers and 45,414 enlisted. Civilian employees total nearly 9,000.
A spokesman for the Army, Lt. Col. Lee M. Packnett, said he was unaware whether security measures were put in place at other military bases. Other U.S. military bases told local NBC stations that the shootings were being treated as an isolated incident and that no special security measures were being implemented in response.
Shocked and saddened
Hutchison said in a statement: “I am shocked and saddened by today’s outburst of violence at Fort Hood ... My heart goes out to their loved ones.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign spokesperson said the governor was in Denton, scheduled to attend a campaign event, when word of the shooting occurred. There was no word on whether he had left Denton or whether he was headed to Fort Hood.
Fort Hood has seen other violence in recent years. In September 2008, a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier shot his lieutenant to death and then killed himself. Spec. Jody Michael Wirawan of Eagle River, Alaska, shot himself to death after killing 1st Lt. Robert Bartlett Fletcher, 24, of Jensen Beach, Fla.
Suspect in Ft. Hood shootings alive. NBC's Charles Hadlock updates Brian Williams about the evolving story, reporting that both the suspected shooter Maj. Hasan, and the female police officer credited with neutralizing the situation are alive and in stable condition.
A U.S. soldier opened fire Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, killing at least 11 people and wounding 31 others, military officials said. The gunman was shot to death, and two others were in custody.
Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, who confirmed the shootings, said the gunman used two handguns. NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that a U.S. official identified the gunman as Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, who was 39 or 40.
A senior Obama administration official told NBC News that the shootings could have been a criminal matter rather than a terrorism-related attack and that there was no intelligence to suggest a plot against Fort Hood.
Military and local hospital official said the victims were a mixture of men and women, military and civilian. At least one of those killed was a civilian police officer, Cone said. At least four local SWAT officers were among those wounded, NBC affiliate KCEN-TV of Waco reported.
Fort Hood, one of the largest military complexes in the world, was on lockdown, as were schools in the area. Dozens of agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the post, federal officials said.
Speaking in Washington, President Barack Obama called the shootings a “horrific incident.”
“It’s difficult enough when we lose these great Americans in battles overseas,” Obama said at the Interior Department. “It’s horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.”
Shootings in deployment processing center
Emergency Services officials at Fort Hood said the incident began about 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 ET) when the gunman opened fire in the Soldiers Readiness Processing Center on the west side of the base. A spokesman for the base, Sgt. Major Jamie Posten, said the processing center was where soldiers “cycle through as they prepare to deploy.”
Retired Army Col. Greg Schannep, an aide to Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, who was on the post to attend a graduation service, told the base newspaper, The Fort Hood Sentinel, that he 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. But then, “a soldier came running past me and said, ‘Sir, there is someone shooting.’
“As he ran past me, I saw blood on his back,” Schannep told the base paper. “I don’t think he even knew he had been shot.”
Fort Hood is adjacent to Killeen, about 60 miles northeast of Austin. The sprawling complex is home to at least 4,929 active-duty officers and 45,414 enlisted. Civilian employees total nearly 9,000.
A spokesman for the Army, Lt. Col. Lee M. Packnett, said he was unaware whether security measures were put in place at other military bases. A spokesman at Fort Lewis, Wash., said the incident was being treated as isolated.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, said in a statement: “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.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign spokesperson said the governor was in Denton, scheduled to attend a campaign event, when word of the shooting occurred. There was no word on whether he had left Denton or whether he was headed to Fort Hood.
Milly Land, who works at the base fitness center, said she was headed for the graduation ceremony at 2 p.m. at the Howze Theater when the campus was locked down. She went back to the fitness center. She said she spoke by phone with friends at the soldier processing center, who said a gunman walked in about 1:30, walked to the medical area of the processing center, and started shooting. A second gunman was shooting at the theater next door, she said.
Fort Hood has seen other violence in recent years. In September 2008, a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier shot his lieutenant to death and then killed himself. Spc. Jody Michael Wirawan of Eagle River, Alaska, shot himself to death after shooting 1st Lt. Robert Bartlett Fletcher, 24, of Jensen Beach, Fla. to death.
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