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Army base gunman still alive but motive for killings remain a mystery

By Brett J Blackledge, Washington - Saturday, November 07, 2009

AFTER mistaken reports in the aftermath of the shooting at Fort Hood in Texas that the gunmen responsible for the killings was shot dead, it has emerged that suspect Nadil Malik Hasan is alive and being treated at the base hospital.

The US Law Enforcement website, PoliceOne.com reported that following several hours in which it was widely reported that the assailant had been killed, it was revealed that Hasan was alive.

At a press conference late on Thursday, Lt General Bob Cone said: "I would say his death is not imminent."

The hospital commander at the base said yesterday that the suspect in Thursday’s deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, is in stable condition.

What remains unknown is the motive for the killings. Hasan is believed to be the man who shot 13 people dead and left 30 wounded on Thursday.

For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in July, the 39-year-old major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre pursuing his career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry.

He received his medical degree from the military’s Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2001.

While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counselling and extra supervision, said Dr Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.

Grieger said privacy laws prevented him from going into details, but noted that the problems had to do with Hasan’s interactions with patients. He recalled Hasan as a "mostly very quiet" person who never spoke ill of the military or his country.

"He swore an oath of loyalty to the military," Grieger said. "I didn’t hear anything contrary to those oaths."

But, more recently, federal agents grew suspicious.

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Hasan’s aunt, Noel Hasan said he had been harassed about being a Muslim in the years after the September 11 terror attacks and he wanted out of the army. "Some people can take it and some people cannot," she said. "He had listened to all of that and he wanted out of the military."

She said he had sought a discharge from the military for several years, and even offered to repay the cost of his medical training.

A military official said Hasan was in the preparation stage of deployment, which can take months. The official said Hasan had indicated he didn’t want to go to Iraq but was willing to serve in Afghanistan.

Terrorism task force agents plan to interview several of Hasan’s relatives, according to a law enforcement official.

Noel Hasan said her nephew "did not make many friends" and "the military was his life."

A cousin, Nader Hasan, told The New York Times that after counselling soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post- traumatic stress disorder, Hasan knew about war firsthand.

"He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy," Nader Hasan said. "He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there."

Federal law-enforcement agents ordered an evacuation of the apartment complex where Hasan lived in Killeen, Texas, on Thursday night and conducted a search of his home, said Hilary Shine, director of public information for the city. She didn’t say what was found during the search.

Officials said earlier that federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorise the seizure of his computer.

Retired Army Col Terry Lee, who said he worked with Hasan, told Fox News Hasan had hoped President Barack Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Lee said Hasan got into frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars, and tried hard to prevent his pending deployment.

Colonel Kimberly Kesling, deputy commander of clinical services at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, said she had known Hasan.

"You wouldn’t think that someone who works in your facility and provided excellent care for his patients could do something like this," Kesling said. She praised his work ethic, saying, "There was never any indication he would do something like this."

Kesling described him as "a quiet man who wouldn’t seek the limelight" and said she was shocked on hearing he was the man suspected of carrying out the shootings.

Faizul Khan a former imam at a mosque Hasan attended in Silver Spring, Maryland said: "I got the impression that he was a committed soldier."

IrishExaminer.com - Saturday, November 21, 2009

Army base gunman still alive but motive for killings remain a mystery