I pray for the victims and their families. I also pray that there are lessons learned that will prevent this sort of tragedy from ever happening again.
"Allahu Akbar": Hasan's Words as He Fired?
Arabic for "God Is Great"; Base Commander Tells Harry Smith Soldiers Report Alleged Fort Hood Gunman Said It During Rampage
Lt. Gen. Robert Cone told "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith said officials had not yet confirmed that the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment, which is Arabic for "God is great!" during the rampage Thursday, which also left 30 people wounded, including the gunman.
"Did he say anything as he was carrying out this act?" Smith asked Cone.
"There are reports, unconfirmed, that he was saying, 'Allahu Akbar," ' Cone replied.
As he laid out what happened, Cone lauded the soldiers on-scene who struggled mightily to help others. "In talking to many of the soldiers in the hospital last night," Cone said to Smith, "they reported almost a very calm and measured approach by the gunman, who went around and, in some cases, talked to one young man who was shot four times, and by the same shooter. And then when he thought -- he said, 'I made the mistake of moving, and I was shot again.'
Reuters – Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army doctor identified by
authorities as the suspect in the shooting …
WASHINGTON – His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a medical student because of problems with patients.
There are many unknowns about Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base. Most of all, his motive.
For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in July, the 39-year-old Army major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center 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, Md., in 2001.
While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.
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