Fort Hood Shooting

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...Army-base.html

A US army officer called Major Malik Nadal Hasan has been named as the man responsible for killing 13 people and injuring 30 more in a mass shooting at a Texas military base.
By Nick Allen, in Los Angeles
---

Major Hasan, a military psychiatrist who had allegedly called for Muslims to attack Americans over the Iraq war, is critically ill and under guard in hospital.

The authorities initially believed he had been killed in the ensuing gun battle with police but it later emerged he was still alive despite being shot four times in the incident at Fort Hood base, the largest American military installation in the world.

The serviceman was about to be posted to either Iraq or Afghanistan and argued regularly against the wars, it has been claimed.

Hasan, armed with two handguns, walked into a training centre and opened fire on fellow soldiers who were having last-minute medical check-ups before being deployed to Afghanistan. Thirteen were killed and 30 injured.

However, there were suggestions that some of the dead might have been shot by the authorities in their attempt to stop the gunman.

Hasan is now under guard in hospital where he is unconscious and on a ventilator.

Hasan, a Muslim by birth, was born in Virginia, and his family is believed to have come from Jordan.

A former colleague, Col Terry Lee, said Hasan had fallen out with other soldiers on the base. He claimed that Hasan said he was “happy” when a US soldier was killed in an attack on a military recruitment centre in Arkansas in June.

However, Hasan’s cousin said that he had been the victim of harassment but had never expressed violent sentiments.

“He never went to Iraq. He was dealing with people coming back, trying to help them with their trauma,” Nader Hasan said. “He was just normal, loved sports, never got into trouble.” He said his family was “shocked and baffled” by the incident.

Ten of the victims were soldiers and one was a civilian police officer. The identities of the other two are not known.

Earlier, gunfire erupted around the base as two men, thought to have been accomplices, were captured. Police feared there may have been more than one gunman but the two soldiers were later released.

More than 500 soldiers were deployed to lock down Fort Hood as helicopters hovered overhead. Lt Gen Bob Cone, the base’s commander, said: “It has been a terrible tragedy, it’s stunning.

“Soldiers, family members and the civilians that work here are absolutely devastated.

“The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. There were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter.”

The shootings took place in the 'soldier readiness center', a former sports dome, where soldiers are sent for final checks before being sent overseas. As well as soldiers about to be deployed, those returning and undergoing medical screening would have been there.

The attack happened shortly before a graduation ceremony for soldiers was due to start at the base.

President Barack Obama, speaking from Washington, described the attack as a “horrific outburst of violence.”

He said: “These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk, and at times, give their lives to protect us. It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women overseas. It is horrifying when we lose them on American soil.”

Officials are examining the possibility that some casualties may have been victims of "friendly fire" according to a senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hasan had transferred to Fort Hood in July from Walter Reed Medical Center, where he received a poor performance evaluation, according to an official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said generals at Fort Hood told her that Hasan was about to deploy overseas. Retired Col Terry Lee, who said he had worked with Hasan, told Fox News he was being sent to Afghanistan.

Fort Hood is one of America’s most important bases for training its forces and tens of thousands of soldiers go through every year.

It covers an area of 340 sq miles near Killeen, some 50 miles from Waco, Texas. There are up to 65,000 people, including military families, on the site at any one time.

Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said: “Our dedicated military personnel have sacrificed so much in service to our country and it sickens me that the men and women of Fort Hood have been subjected to this senseless, random violence.”

John Carter, a local Republican congressman, said: “I had a man on the scene, who is the former chaplain at Fort Hood. He was waiting to go to a graduation ceremony when a soldier came running up to him saying somebody was shooting. He heard small arms and rifle fire.”

Fort Hood has also been working to rehabilitate many soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, Mr Carter said.

Base commanders and the Pentagon said they had no early indication of a motive for the shootings.

The base has seen other violence in recent years. In September last year a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier shot dead his lieutenant and then killed himself.

Five American soldiers also died in Baghdad earlier this year in a shooting by one of their comrades at a combat stress clinic. It had been set up following criticism that the US military had not done enough to treat soldiers who had undergone repeated tours of duty.

Fort Hood is close to the site of one of the worst mass shootings in American history. On October 16, 1991, George Hennard smashed his pickup truck through a window of Luby's Cafeteria window in Killeen, Texas, and fired on the lunchtime crowd with a high-powered pistol, killing 22 people and wounding at least 20 others.

Terrible news.
Kind of ironic that he happened to be a psychiatrist.

Maybe it was the fact that he was a psychiatrist that he ended up going crazy.

It's really hard to sort through people's problems if one can't sort through their own problems themselves.

Anyhooo...>_>

*twiddles thumbs until anti-Islamic comments come*

I read the article earlier at msn. What I find weird is that there was a previous incident in 1991 at the nearby Luby's (21 murdered). The whole post-traumatic rehab of many soldiers and the more recent incidents indicate that there's more than just a random crazy shrink. There's definitely something going on in that place Fort Hood that has not been studied. This is a perfect movie plot or documentary opportunity. What the hell is lingering in Fort Hood?

You want to know something even scarier?

The psychiatrist guy graduated from Virginia Tech.

The one thing that actually stood out at me was the fact that Hasan was a graduate of Virginia Tech.

I mean, gee, why does this sound so familiar? >_<

Two people in the history of VT have gone on shooting sprees. That's...not very many at all. in fact, that's way, way, way under 0.01% of the people who have ever gone there.

http://www.corrupt.org/news/1004.html

just leavin dis here

Originally Posted by TheBattler

You want to know something even scarier?

The psychiatrist guy graduated from Virginia Tech.

Virgina Tech is TERRIBLE. First Cho, then the girl that got her neck slit on campus, then I tried to download the Google Android SDK and used VT as my mirror and got all kinds of errors, and now THIS.

Mike Vick also went to VT

anyway this guy apparently didnt want to kill other Muslims so he goes and kills his fellow Americans instead?

Originally Posted by Young Old Man

Mike Vick also went to VT

anyway this guy apparently didnt want to kill other Muslims so he goes and kills his fellow Americans instead?

That's what annoys me about this story. He should have just killed himself if he had such a problem going to war. Or fled to Canada. At any rate I just pray for the families of those who died in this. It's an awful way to go to say the least.

a co-worker of mine's daughter is at Fort Hood, and she had just gotten off the phone with her last night, when we were all going out for drinks... She said she had been on lock down for a while, and her kids had gone to stay with their father's parents (the father is in Iraq currently).

So needless to say, Marion ordered a tall strong drink first thing. But of course, her daughter was unharmed, just very disturbed,

How did he get in the service in the first place?

Originally Posted by KillerKat55

That's what annoys me about this story. He should have just killed himself if he had such a problem going to war. Or fled to Canada. At any rate I just pray for the families of those who died in this. It's an awful way to go to say the least.

>_______>

Or he could have just requested an honorable discharge.

How did he got a gun on a heavily guarded base is the true question.

Originally Posted by TheBattler

>_______>

Or he could have just requested an honorable discharge.

This. No excuse for such a disgusting act of mass murder.

My sympathy to the families of the wounded & fallen.

Originally Posted by KillerKat55

He should have just killed himself if he had such a problem going to war.

Gentlemen, I believe we have reached peak america.

Why was this thread even made?
I was around when that happened, I didn't even want to talk about it because my dad was probably in same area when that did happen.

Well, since this is already posted I might as well say this:
My parents was talking about this and they said like it was a sign to Iraq or something. I can't really get into details but it was bad.

While there is no denying the tragedy that this caused the victims and their families, I cannot help but to feel sypathetic towards Hasan as well. No one knows what goes on in someone's mind, and as a psychiatrist, hearing countless horror stories of Iraq and Afghanistan from his clients (or comrades, I guess) then having to prepare yourself to face those same circumstances must be absolutely horrendous. Not to mention that being a muslim, he feels an undeniable sense of brotherhood with the people he must call enemies, and was apparently upset about having to go and fight against them.
According to CNN, he had been trying to get out of the army since the 9/11 terrorist attack, but was unsuccessful. That's almost nine years--I'm surprised something wasn't done about his case sooner. If it had, then those poor, innocent lives could still be among us.

Originally Posted by TheBattler

You want to know something even scarier?

The psychiatrist guy graduated from Virginia Tech.

We're really quite pleasant, you should come visit.
It doesn't mean anything, just a strange similarity.

Anyway, how soon can we zap this guy?

This thread has not become pro-gun control or pro-death penalty. Odd.

Originally Posted by TheBattler

You want to know something even scarier?

The psychiatrist guy graduated from Virginia Tech.

It's like Skull and Bones only scarier!

Originally Posted by 8bit

Virgina Tech is TERRIBLE. First Cho, then the girl that got her neck slit on campus, then I tried to download the Google Android SDK and used VT as my mirror and got all kinds of errors, and now THIS.

Originally Posted by LinkingTheMemories

How did he get in the service in the first place?

The U.S. of America is incredibly desperate for soldiers. They will hire anyone. ANYONE.

Originally Posted by Snow_Storm

How did he got a gun on a heavily guarded base is the true question.

It's a military base. Guns are everywhere.

Originally Posted by Captain Cornflake

Gentlemen, I believe we have reached peak america.

Again,