At Fort Hood Military Base in Killeen County, Army Psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire. The number of lives he took gradually climbed to 13. More than 30 others were wounded.
Hasan was scheduled for deployment to Iraq on November 28, MSNBC reported. And he was decidedly upset about that. In a phone interview with Sky News in Britain, Hasan's brother stated that the gunman had experienced harassment on the base because of his ethnic background and was also directly opposed to America's foreign policy.
MSNBC reports:
The Associated Press, quoting federal law enforcement officials, said Hasan had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats. The officials said they were still trying to confirm that he was the author.
There were originally three shooters rumored to have opened fire at Fort Hood, but two suspects were released because they were apparently not involved. Hasan was alone and wielding two hand guns when he carried out what President Obama called "a horrific outburst."
A thirteenth victim of the shooting died in the hospital early Friday morning from injuries sustained during the shooting. The Huffington Post has published a short list of the few names of Fort Hood victims that have been released.
According to ABC's News10 website, "The suspect, [Hasan] is alive on a ventilator, paralyzed and unconscious..." He had reportedly been shot four times at the scene and has been in custody in the hospital ever since.
Fort Hood and schools in the surrounding area were placed on lockdown until approximately 7 p.m. Thursday evening. Police officers were even placed at some campuses to help facilitate dismissal of students and classes at Texas A&M Central University were cancelled.
Fort Hood's website states that the military base had been nicknamed "The Great Place," because of the many different amenities and the great quality of life for personnel and their families. No matter your ideological bent, the events that took place at the fort Thursday are nothing short of tragic. May your thoughts and sympathy go out to those at The Great Place who were affected by the shooting.
For more information on this topic, visit these sites:
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