12 U.S. soldiers murdered on their base at Fort Hood by trusted medico

Malaysia News.Net
Thursday 5th November, 2009

The US Army has announced that twelve soldiers and a civilian have been killed and 31 wounded in a shooting rampage on the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.

It is alleged the shootings were carried out by a US army psychiatrist, a Major, who opened fire on his fellow officers.

President Barack Obama has released a statement to say he found the details of the attack: “tragic” and “a horrific outburst of violence.”

The alleged gunman has been identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39.

Hasan was reportedly upset about his imminent deployment overseas. Fort Hood base commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said Friday that Hasan was to be deployed to Afghanistan, not Iraq as officials initially said.

Earlier in the day, senior army officials stated at a press conference that the gunman had been killed, but since then they have corrected the version of events.

Fort Hood officials have now said the shooting suspect is alive and was not killed in the attack.

major Hasan reportedly used handguns in his attack on other soldiers who were mustering at an area which handles personnel who are about to be deployed

Friday has been marked as a day of mourning at the Fort Hood base, the largest US military installation in the world.

Fort Hood, which lies about 95 km north of the Texan capital Austin, houses several units that have been deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More than 40,000 soldiers and their families live on the base.

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