Fort Hood Attack...Soldiers killed

Fort Hood shooter was Army psychiatrist who treated stress

" FORT HOOD, Texas — An Army psychiatrist who'd recently completed training in treating traumatic stress disorder opened fire Thursday on a group of soldiers preparing for deployment to Iraq, killing at least 13 and wounding 31.

A law enforcement official in Texas and a military officer in Washington identified the shooter as Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist in the Army Medical Corps. Both officials requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

Virginia medical licensing records indicate that Hasan, a graduate of Virginia Tech, earlier this year completed training in disaster psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., just outside Washington. He also served in a residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington in 2007.

Chuck Dasey, a spokesman at Walter Reed, said he couldn't confirm whether Hasan worked at the facility "pending notification of next of kin."

The records gave his primary practice as Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, where many of the wounded were taken.

Hasan, 39, was killed after he opened fire at the base, according to Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, the base commander at Fort Hood.

Two other soldiers were in custody, Cone said, though U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, whose district includes Fort Hood, later told CNN that they'd been released.

In an interview with Fox News, a man claiming to be the suspect's cousin, Nader Hasan, said that Maj. Hasan was born in the U.S. and considered an upcoming deployment to Iraq "his worst nightmare." Nader Hasan added that his cousin wasn't violent, telling Fox News: "He wasn't somebody who even enjoyed going to the firing range."

Cone said all casualties were military personnel.

"It's a terrible tragedy. It's stunning," Cone said.

Hasan, who was shot and killed by police officers, used two handguns during the attack, Cone said.

The shootings began about at 1:30 p.m. CST Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center, Cone said. A second incident took place at a theater on the base.

The identities of the dead or wounded weren't released. One of the dead was a civilian police officer, Cone said.

Fort Hood, adjacent to the city of Killeen and about 60 miles from Austin, is the largest active duty armored post in the U.S., with about 52,000 troops from the 1st Cavalry Division, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division and other units stationed there. Nearly all of its units are currently deployed in Iraq.

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 Sgt. Rebekah Lampam, a Fort Hood spokeswoman.

Greg Schanepp, Carter's regional director in Texas, was representing the congressman at the graduation, said John Stone, a spokesman for Carter, whose district includes the Army post.

Schanepp was at the ceremony when a soldier who'd 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 thinks Schanepp was in the theater.

Distraught Fort Hood family members, including parents rushing to pick up their children from day care, gathered at the main gate after the base was locked down.

"When I first heard, I was in tears,'' said Cynthia Wood, whose son, Conner, was in day care on the base. "It's very disheartening not being able to get your child.''

As she was talking to reporters, her husband, Army Spec. Joshua Wood, was sending her a frantic text message from Iraq asking for more details.

Monica Cain brushed back tears as she explained that she was unable to reach her husband, whom she'd taken to Fort Hood earlier in the day for medical treatment of a head injury he suffered in combat. Sgt. Barren Cain had told her he planned to call at 1 p.m. to summon her to pick him up. But by mid-afternoon, after news of the shooting spread across the region, she hadn't heard from him and was unable to reach him by cell phone.

"I don't know what's going on,'' she said. "I'm very scared.''

She said the medical center wasn't far from the reported scene of the shooting.

A public affairs officer at the base said that sirens sounded on the base to alert all personnel to remain where they were. A scrolling notice on the base's Web site declared "Organizations/units are instructed to execute a 100 percent accountability of all personnel. This is not a drill. It is an emergency situation."

Officials at the Pentagon said the wounded were taken to Darnell Army Hospital for treatment.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, asked her colleagues on the Senate floor to observe a minute of silence in honor of those killed and wounded at Fort Hood. The normally loquacious senators then stood in silence.

Around the country, some military bases stepped up security precautions, but no others were locked down.

"The bottom line for us is that we are increasing security at our gates because the threat hasn't yet been defined, and we're reminding our Marines to be vigilant in their areas of responsibility," said Capt. Rob Dolan, a public affairs officer for the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz.

In Washington, President Barack Obama called the shooting "a horrific outburst of violence." He said it's a tragedy to lose a soldier overseas and even more horrifying when they come under fire at an Army base on American soil.

"We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident," Obama said. "We are going to stay on this."

Obama spoke late Thursday afternoon with Cone, to express condolences and to offer any help he might need, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Obama was getting regular Oval Office updates on the shooting from his staff, led by his homeland security adviser, John Brennan.

Stephanie Reyes, a civilian clerk at the Sportsmen's Center Grill on base said at 3 p.m. that everyone has been told to stay indoors.

"We're just on lockdown," she said. "Honestly, we have no idea what's going on.''

Reyes said her husband is in the military at the base, but she hasn't had a chance to talk to him.

"They're in lockdown as well,'' she said. "There's not really much more we can do.''
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(Montgomery, of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reported from Fort Hood; Youssef from Washington. Steve Campbell and Bill Miller of the Star-Telegram contributed to this article from Fort Worth.)

So what can be done to prevent such incidents? Did he condone violence by Muslims against Americans? Why was he allowed to stay in the military?