US - Fort Hood shootings

Army major kills 13 in Fort Hood shooting spree

Article published on the 2009-11-06 Latest update 2009-11-06 09:31 TU

Emergency personnel carry the wounded at the US Army post in Fort Hood
(Photo: Reuters/Department of Defense)

A US Army major killed 13 fellow soldiers and wounded 30 others in a shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army post on Thursday. The suspect was shot several times but survived.

Authorities identified the suspected gunman as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist, who had treated soldiers wounded in foreign wars preparing for foreign deployment at the post.

The Army said the gunman opened fire with two handguns, one of them a semi-automatic, at about 1.30 pm CST (1930 UT) at the Soldiers Readiness Processing Centre, a group of buildings where soldiers were getting medical check-ups before leaving for overseas deployments.

"Our investigation is ongoing but preliminary reports indicate that there was a single shooter," Lieutenant-General Robert Cone, Fort Hood's commanding officer, told a news conference.

"The shooter is not dead but in custody in stable condition. He's not currently speaking to investigators. I would say his death is not imminent."

Cone said a college graduation ceremony for more than 100 soldiers was being held in an auditorium about 50 metres away when the shooting started.

"Thanks to the quick reaction of several soldiers, they were able to close off the doors to that auditorium where there were some 600 people inside," Cone said.

"As horrible as this was, I think it could have been much worse," Cone said.

No explanation has been given for the shootings with the Army playing down the possibility of a terrorist act.

"I couldn't rule that out but ... the evidence does not suggest that," Cone said,

A cousin of the suspected shooter, Nader Hasan, told Fox News that the suspect was unhappy about being ordered to serve a term in Iraq.

"We've known over the last five years that was probably his worst nightmare," he said.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, President Barack Obama described it as "a horrific outburst of violence".

"It is difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women abroad, but it is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on US soil," he said.

"We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident."