Fort Hood Shooting at Army Post in Texas 12 Shot Dead

On Thursday November 5, 2009 disaster struck the Fort Hood army post in Texas. The suspects name is Major Nidal Malik Hasan who open fired on unarmed military members killing 12 and wounding 31 others. Major Hasan pulled out two weapons one of which was a semi-automatic gun, neither of the weapons were military issue. The Fort Hood, Texas army post was put on lockdown until the situation was contained. Suspect Hasan was originally thought to be dead but he was not killed and is currently wounded and in military custody.

More and more information about the Fort Hood Shooting has come forth as time continues. Nidal Hasan is an American citizen who practices the Muslim religion. Hasan is a Major in the army who is also a psychologist. Nidal is 39 years old and is single with no children. Hasan had been at the Fort Hood army post in Texas for less than six months.

Hasan was supposed to leave the Fort Hood army post and go serve in Iraq. There was some concern over Hasan who may have posted responses about suicide bombing. There is some concern that Hasan may have been committing a terrorist act when he started shooting at Fort Hood.

Suspect Hasan had asked if he could get out of the army. Major Hasan also disagreed with the Iraq war and did not want to be a part of that. The FBI was investigating Hasan quietly for at least six months prior to this tragedy. This investigation will be looking at his mental health and if he had taken any psychological tests while at Fort Hood before he was deployed. It will need to be decided if Major Hasan was operating of his own accord or if he was committing an act of terrorism.

Questions from the Fort Hood shooting need to be answered before charges are made. Why did Hasan open fire at the Fort Hood base and kill fellow colleagues? What exactly was the Majors state of mind when he was gunning down those Fort Hood soldiers? Was Hasan a psychologist mentally sound? What would cause someone to commit the largest shooting spree on a military base in history?

Hopefully soon the answers to those questions and more will be answered. The nation's thoughts and prayers go out to the military families who lost loved ones in the Fort Hood shootings and to the families of the wounded.

Source:
CNN, 'Fort Hood Shootings Suspect Alive, 12 Dead' www.cnn.com