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2:58 PM
Reut R. Cohen
ABC News has identified Major Malik Nadal Hasan as the shooter. Brian Ross of ABC identified the gunman as a convert to Islam. Two other soldiers were apprehended and are being questioned. It is unclear, however, whether the incident was a jihadist attack or a random act of violence. Authorities have not yet named a motive for the attack. 12 people were murdered and 31 wounded in the shooting.
Update (11/05/2009, 7:58PM): It turns out that the shooter is still alive despite initial reports that he was shot dead. The two soldiers taken in for questioning were released. A second press conference held at Fort Hood suggests that Hasan is suspected to be the only gunman. Malik Nadal Hasan is not a convert to Islam, but was born Muslim and is an ethnic Middle Easterner who is from Virginia. According to a cousin of the shooter, Hasan is American-born and felt like he was being persecuted due to his Middle Eastern heritage. A colleague of Major Hasan, Major Terry Lee, says that Hasan felt that the U.S. has no business in Iraq and that Hasan was sympathetic to the jihadist who shot down two military recruiters in Arkansas earlier this June. Authorities have not yet indicated Hasan's motive.
Update (11/6/2009, 8:40AM): Another soldier has died from his injuries from yesterday's shootings. That brings the death toll to 13. More information has been released about the shooter.
Here are some details from ABC News about the attack that took place this afternoon:
Twelve people have been killed and 31 wounded in a shooting spree at a Texas military base in a murderous rampage that officials believe was carried out by an Army officer.
The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, told Fox News that military sources informed her that the gunman was about to be deployed to Iraq.
The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said.
The general said there were "eyewitness accounts of more than one shooter," and the others were tracked to an adjacent facility.
Cone called the attack "a terrible tragedy, stunning." He said the community was "absolutely devastated."
President Obama called the Fort Hood shootings a "horrific outburst of violence."
"It is difficult enough to lose" soldiers overseas, but it is "horrifying that they should lose their lives at an Army base in the U.S.," he said.
The president said "my prayers are with the wounded and the families of the fallen."
Read the full report here.
My thoughts are with those impacted by this terrible act. This is a very sad day for Americans.
1 comments. Leave a comment:
It has all of the elements of an Islamic terror attack. We'll probably know for sure shortly. Thanks for posting his name. It took a while for Fox and CNN to name him
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