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Shootings At Fort Hood, TX Army Base: 12 Dead, 31 Wounded
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 5, 2009
Modified Nov 6, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 5, 2009
Modified Nov 6, 2009
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According to the Army, seven people were killed and 20 were wounded in two shooting at an army base in Fort Hood, TX. The AP reports, "An Army spokesman at the Pentagon says the shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center at Fort Hood. The spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Banks, says two shooters were apparently involved. There is no word yet on who they were, nor on identities of the dead. He says it is too soon to tell whether there is any link to battle stress or repeated deployments."
Update: CNN reports that 9 are dead and the shooters were dressed in military uniform. One has been apprehended.
Update 5:28 p.m.: Now it's reported that 12 people are dead and 31 wounded. ABC News further adds, "The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan. The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said. The gunman used two handguns, Cone said. He wasn't sure if the shooter reloaded the weapons during the attack."
President Obama called the incident a "horrific outburst of violence... It is difficult enough to lose [soldiers overseas, but said it is] horrifying that they should lose their lives at an Army base in the U.S." Obama also said, "My prayers are with the wounded and the families of the fallen."
Update 10:00 p.m.: Now the Army says that the shooter, whose name is Major Nidal Malik Hasan, is alive and in stable condition. CNN reports that he is 39 and "a "graduate of Virginia Tech and a psychiatrist licensed in Virginia who was practicing at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, according to military and professional records. Previously, he worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A federal official said Hasan is a U.S. citizen of Jordanian descent. Military documents show that Hasan was born in Virginia, and was never deployed outside the United States. Hasan was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq 'and appeared to be upset about that,' Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said."
The NY Times has more about Hasan, who was born and raised in Virginia:
But Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the 39-year-old man accused of Thursday’s mass shooting at Fort Hood, Tex., started having second thoughts about his 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.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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