An army psychiatrist shot dead 13 people and wounded at least 31 others after going on a murderous rampage at America's biggest military base.
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, armed himself with two handguns before bursting into a medical centre at Fort Hood in Texas and spraying the room with bullets.
The devout man was eventually brought down by a female soldier who was herself wounded in the exchange of gunfire.
Hasan, who was furious about U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, is now in a stable condition in hospital.
First reports said Hasan had been killed. But early this morning it was revealed that he had been wounded and was in a stable condition on a ventilator.
'I would say his death is not imminent,' Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort Hood said.
Investigators said Hasan had used two pistols, one a semi-automatic. Neither of the weapons was military issue. Soldiers at the base only carry weapons during training exercises.
The shooting took place just 50 yards from the Howze Theatre where a graduation ceremony for soldiers who had finished college courses was due to take place.
There were 600 people inside the auditorium at the time but quick-thinking soldiers managed to close the doors, averting a potentially worse tragedy.
Hasan is described as:
· Single with no children. He was born in America but gave his nationality as Palestinian
· A devout Muslim who had frequent arguments with military colleagues who supported the War on Terror
· Desperate to avoid deployment to Iraq at the end of the year. He claimed to have been harassed by colleagues for his religious beliefs
· Allegedly responsible for internet postings supporting suicide bombers. Officials were tipped off six months ago but no formal investigation had been launched
'He was reacting with open glee at the death of some soldiers by a suicide bomber. I told him, "You might not agree with this but this is the army and we are here to serve the country.'
Mr Lee said Hasan repeatedly stated: 'Muslims should rise up against the aggressors.'
'He was very much against that and he was appealing through the channels for the deployment to be cancelled,' Mr Lee said.
However, Hasan's cousin Nader Hasan claimed he was a 'normal' American.
He said being deployed to Iraq was the major's 'worst nightmare.'
I can't tell you why it happened,' Nader Hasan told Fox News. 'He's been making those requests (not to be deployed) since 9/11. He's been in military since right out of high school.
'Both his parents are American and I just want to make sure everyone understands he is a good American and we are shocked.'
As an army psychiatrist, Hasan helped counsel countless traumatised soldiers returning from Iraq. 'He deals with stories, he'd tell us how he would hear things, horrific things,' his cousin added.
'But even before hearing things from the war, what was affecting him psychologically (was that) he was dealing with some harassment with some of his military colleagues to the extent that he hired a military attorney to try to have the issue resolved, pay back the Government to get out of the military.'
'It was the harassment that got to him, him being referenced from his Middle Eastern ethnicity even though was born and raised here, went to high school here in North Virginia.. went to Virginia Tech and never been in any trouble, just normal and played sports.'
Last night the FBI was assisting the military with the investigation into one of America's worst killings at an army base. Two soldiers who were apprehended as suspects were later released.
President Barack Obama described the incident as a ‘horrific outburst of violence'.
‘These are men and women who have made a selfless and courageous decision to risk and at some times lose their lives to protect the rest of us.
‘It is 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,’ he said.
Mr Obama said he didn’t yet know all the details, but promised the government would get ‘answers to every single question'.
Lt General Bob Cone said the massacre was a 'terrible tragedy'.
' It’s stunning and the soldiers and families who work here are absolutely devastated,' he added.
At the Soldier Readiness Centre, soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening - on average about 300-400 screened a day, said Sergeant Rebecca Lampam.
She said a graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college courses while deployed was also going on in the auditorium at the time of the shooting.
One of the injured was 19-year-old Amber Bahr, who was shot in the stomach but remains in a stable condition. 'We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly,' said her mother Lisa Pfund.
Covering 339 square miles, Fort Hood is the largest active duty armoured post in the world and home to about 52,000 troops.
The sprawling base, located halfway between Austin and Waco, was where Elvis Presley famously served part of his military service in the 1950s.
The base has lost more soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan than any other military facility.
Hospitals in the area were appealing for more blood last night to deal with the wounded.
Complaints have grown in recent years of the psychological damage suffered by soldiers on the base as a result of repeated tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The base has seen other violence in recent years. In September 2008, a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier Jody Wirawan shot his lieutenant Robert Bartlett dead and then killed himself.
TROUBLING BACKGROUND OF NIDAL MALIK HASAN
President Barack Obama described the incident as a ‘horrific outburst of violence'.
‘These are men and women who have made a selfless and courageous decision to risk and at some times lose their lives to protect the rest of us.
‘It is 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,’ he said.
Mr Obama said he didn’t yet know all the details, but promised the government would get ‘answers to every single question'.
Lt General Bob Cone said the massacre was a 'terrible tragedy'.
' It’s stunning and the soldiers and families who work here are absolutely devastated,' he added.
At the Soldier Readiness Centre, soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening - on average about 300-400 screened a day, said Sergeant Rebecca Lampam.
She said a graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college courses while deployed was also going on in the auditorium at the time of the shooting.
One of the injured was 19-year-old Amber Bahr, who was shot in the stomach but remains in a stable condition. 'We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly,' said her mother Lisa Pfund.
Covering 339 square miles, Fort Hood is the largest active duty armoured post in the world and home to about 52,000 troops.
The sprawling base, located halfway between Austin and Waco, was where Elvis Presley famously served part of his military service in the 1950s.
The base has lost more soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan than any other military facility.
Hospitals in the area were appealing for more blood last night to deal with the wounded.
Complaints have grown in recent years of the psychological damage suffered by soldiers on the base as a result of repeated tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The base has seen other violence in recent years. In September 2008, a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier Jody Wirawan shot his lieutenant Robert Bartlett dead and then killed himself.
TROUBLING BACKGROUND OF NIDAL MALIK HASAN
There are many unknowns about Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a US military base.
Most of all, his motive. But details of his life and mindset, emerging from official sources and personal acquaintances, are troubling.
For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in July, the 39-year-old Army major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center pursuing his career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry.
He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2001.
While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some 'difficulties' that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.
Grieger said privacy laws prevented him from going into details but noted that the problems had to do with Hasan's interactions with patients.
He recalled Hasan as a 'mostly very quiet' person who never spoke ill of the military or his country.
'He swore an oath of loyalty to the military,' Grieger said. 'I didn't hear anything contrary to those oaths.'
But, more recently, federal agents grew suspicious.
At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.
They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials.
One of the officials said that federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorise the seizure of Hasan's computer.
Retired Army Col. Terry Lee, who said he worked with Hasan, told Fox News that Hasan had hoped President Barack Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Lee said Hasan got into frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars, and had tried hard to prevent his pending deployment.
Hasan attended prayers regularly when he lived outside Washington, often in his Army uniform, said Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque Hasan attended in Silver Spring, Maryland. He said Hasan was a lifelong Muslim.
'I got the impression that he was a committed soldier,' Khan said. He spoke often with Hasan about Hasan's desire for a wife.
On a form filled out by those seeking spouses through a programme at the mosque, Hasan listed his birthplace as Arlington, Virginia, but his nationality as Palestinian, Khan said.
'I don't know why he listed Palestinian,' Khan said, 'He was not born in Palestine.'
Nothing stood out about Hasan as radical or extremist, Khan said.
'We hardly ever got to discussing politics,' Khan said. 'Mostly we were discussing religious matters, nothing too controversial, nothing like an extremist.'
Hasan earned his rank of major in April 2008, according to a July 2008 Army Times article.
He served eight years as an enlisted soldier. He also served in the Reserve Officer Training Corps as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech University. He received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry there in 1997.
Courtesy: Dailymail
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