“Muslim-American” soldier (with unknown accomplices) goes on rampage.
A U.S. soldier opened fire Thursday at FortHood, Texas, killing at least 11 people and wounding 31 others,military officials said. The gunman was shot to death, and two othersoldiers were in custody.
NBCNews’ Pete Williams reported that U.S. officials identified the gunmanas Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan (pictured right), an Army psychiatrist who had been promotedto major in May. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, said militaryofficials told her that the gunman, who was 39 or 40, was about to bedeployed to Iraq and was “upset about it.”
Lt.Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, whobriefed President Barack Obama on the shootings, said the gunman usedtwo handguns.
UPDATE: Authorities had “concerns” about Hasan
UPDATE: Shooting suspect alive, not killed as previously reported
Speaking in Washington, Obama called the shootings a “horrific incident.”
“It’s difficultenough when we lose these great Americans in battles overseas,” Obamasaid at the Interior Department. “It’s horrifying that they should comeunder fire at an Army base on American soil.”
Notingthe Arabic nature of the gunman’s name, the Council on American-IslamicRelations, a Washington interest group, condemned “this cowardly attackin the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators bepunished to the full extent of the law.”
Note: More on CAIR here
”Nopolitical or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse suchwanton and indiscriminate violence,” the council said in a statement.“The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted theall-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims standwith our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims andsincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.”