|
WASHINGTON (AP) - A pair of military briefings to members of Congress about the Fort Hood rampage resulted in confusion and conflicting information late Friday on the number of wounded.
Two congressmen and a senator said they had been told the number of wounded had risen to 38, or eight more than had been publicly reported by the military. But a fourth lawmaker, who had been among those briefed, said the 38 figure included some that had been hospitalized for stress, and had not been shot.
In addition to the 30 wounded in the shootings, lawmakers were told that eight additional people were taken to the hospital to be treated for stress and trauma in the hours immediately following the event, said Lindsey Mask, a spokeswoman for Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif.
Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Reps. Solomon Ortiz and Mike McCaul, both of Texas, said they understood the briefers to say the "wounded" had totaled 38. Thirteen people were killed in Thursday's attack at the Texas Army post.
Senators and House members had been briefed separately by Maj. Gen. James Huggins, director of Army operations and readiness, and Army Undersecretary Joseph Westphal.
Fort Hood reiterated that 30 people were wounded.
Officer praised for taking down suspected Ft. Hood gunman
KILLEEN, Texas (AP) - A civilian police officer is being praised for taking down a man suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood when she shot him in the torso.
Police officials say after arriving at the scene of Thursday's gunfire, Sgt. Kimberly Munley saw the suspect and started firing at him.
Munley's boss, Chuck Medley, told The Associated Press on Friday that Hasan then spun around and charged at her with a gun in each hand.
Medley says Munley shot the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, in the upper torso, allowing officers to take him into custody. Medley says in the exchange of gunfire, Munley was shot in the thighs and wrist.
The 35-year-old Munley is from Pennsylvania, used to be in the Army and is married to a Fort Bragg, N.C. soldier.
Obama says don't jump to conclusions on shooting
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Friday the entire nation is grieving for those slain at Fort Hood, and he urged people not to jump to conclusions while law enforcement officers investigate the shootings. Obama met Friday morning with FBI Director Robert Mueller and other federal leaders to get an update on what they've learned. Thirteen people were killed and 30 others injured in the shooting rampage at the Texas Army post on Thursday. The suspected shooter is an Army psychiatrist; his motive remains unclear. "We don't know all the answers yet. And I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts," Obama said in a Rose Garden statement otherwise devoted to the economy. "What we do know is that there are families, friends and an entire nation grieving right now for the valiant men and women who came under attack yesterday," the president said. Obama ordered the flags at the White House and other federal buildings to be at half-staff until Veterans Day. He called it a modest tribute to those who were slain and to those who put their lives on the line in the armed services each day. "We stand in awe of their sacrifice, and we pray for the safety of those who fight, and for the families of those who have fallen," Obama said. He promised that that his administration would update the nation as it learns more about what happened, and why, at Fort Hood. The suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was shot and remains hospitalized.
Neighbor: Fort Hood suspect emptied his apartment
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - An Army psychiatrist suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood cleaned out his apartment in the days before the rampage that left 13 people dead, a neighbor said Friday.
The neighbor, Patricia Villa, said Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan came over to her apartment Wednesday and Thursday and offered her some items, including a new Quran, saying he was going to be deployed on Friday. She wasn't sure if he was going to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Authorities said Hasan went on a shooting spree later Thursday at the sprawling Texas post. He was among 30 people wounded in the spree and remained hospitalized on a ventilator Friday. All but two of the injured were still hospitalized, and all were in stable condition.
Investigators were still trying to piecing together how and why an Army psychiatrist facing deployment allegedly gunned down his comrades in one of the worst mass shootings ever on an American military base.
"This was an individual who took it upon himself to attack and murder his colleagues, people who were on the base with him," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Sky News from Brussels, Belgium. "That investigation is under way by law enforcement authorities, and let's let that be the No. 1 priorty in terms of ascertaining what motivations he had."
An imam from a mosque Hasan regularly attended said Hasan, a lifelong Muslim, was a committed soldier, gave no sign of extremist beliefs and regularly wore his uniform at prayers.
Soldiers who witnessed the rampage reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" - an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" - before opening fire, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander. He said officials had not yet confirmed that Hasan made the comment before the shooting spree.
Villa, who recently moved next door to Hasan, said she had never spoken to him before he came over to her apartment.
She said Hasan gave her frozen broccoli, spinach, T-shirts and shelves on Wednesday, then returned Thursday morning and gave her his air mattress, several briefcases and a desk lamp. He then offered her $60 to clean his apartment Friday morning, after he was supposed to leave.
The motive for the shooting wasn't clear, but someone who used to work with Hasan said he had expressed some anger about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Retired Col. Terry Lee told Fox News said Hasan had hoped President Barack Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq and got into frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars.
But another neighbor said Hasan appeared to be OK with his pending deployment, which he said was supposed to be to Afghanistan.
"I asked him how he felt about going over there, with their religion and everything, and he said, `It's going to be interesting,'" said Edgar Booker, a 58-year-old retired soldier who now works in a cafeteria on the post.
Col. Steve Braverman, the Fort Hood hospital commander, said early Friday that Hasan was on deployment orders to Afghanistan. A military official later told The Associated Press that Hasan was to be deployed to Iraq. It was not immediately possible to verify the discrepancy.
The military official, who did not have authorization to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, said Hasan had indicated he didn't want to go to Iraq but was willing to serve in Afghanistan.
Cone said authorities have not yet been able to talk to Hasan, but interviews with witnesses went through the night.
As some of the wounded began to recover, tales of heroic action during the shooting spree emerged.
Base officials lauded an officer, Kimberly Munley, who shot the gunman and was wounded herself.
"She happened to encounter the gunman. In an exchange of gunfire, she was wounded but managed to wound him four times," Cone said. "It was an amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer."
Cone said some 300 soldiers had been lined up to get vaccinations and have their eyes tested at a Soldier Readiness Center when the shots rang out. He said one soldier who had been shot told him, "I made the mistake of moving and I was shot again."
Sgt. Andrew Hagerman said before the first ambulance even arrived, soldiers were tearing off their clothes to help the wounded.
"You had people without tops on. You had people ripping their pant legs off," said Hagerman, a military policeman from Lewisville, Texas.
Hagerman said he saw Hasan laying on the ground receiving medical assistance for a gunshot wound as responders tried to get his handcuffs off to better treat him.
Officials are not ruling out the possibility that some of the casualties may have been victims of "friendly fire," that in the confusion at the shooting scene some of the responding military officials may have shot some of the victims.
Cone acknowledged that it was "counterintuitive" that a single shooter could hit so many people, but he said the massacre occurred in "close quarters.
"With ricochet fire, he was able to injure that number of people," Cone said. He said authorities were investigating whether Hasan's weapons were properly registered with the military.
The gunfire broke out around 1:30 p.m. Nearby, some soldiers were readying to head into a graduation ceremony for troops and families who had recently earned degrees.
"I was confused and just shocked," said Spc. Jerry Richard, 27, who works at the center but was not on duty during the shooting. "Overseas you are ready for it. But here you can't even defend yourself."
The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas, Cone said. Their identities and the identities of the dead were not immediately released.
Friday was designated a day of mourning at Fort Hood. There also will be a ceremony at the air base to honor the dead.
For six years before reporting for duty at the Texas post in July, Hasan worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center pursuing a career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. The 39-year-old Army major received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.
But his record wasn't sterling. At Walter Reed, he received a poor performance evaluation, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. And while he was an intern, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.
Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque Hasan attended in Silver Spring, Md., said "I got the impression that he was a committed soldier." He said Hasan attended prayers regularly at the mosque in Silver Spring, Md., and was a lifelong Muslim. He spoke often with Hasan about Hasan's desire for a wife.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Hasan's aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Va., said he had been harassed about being a Muslim in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, 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."
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.
Investigators had not determined for certain whether Hasan was the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case.
FBI agents who searched Hasan's apartment early Friday seized his computer, a law enforcement official said. It was not immediately known if they found anything suspicious on his computer files.
A military official said investigators were sifting through materials Hasan carried with him during the shooting and evidence left in his vehicle, which was found parked at the base.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
From Thursday November 5th
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - A military mental health doctor facing deployment overseas opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post on Thursday, setting off on a rampage that killed 13 people and left 30 wounded, Army officials said.
Authorities said immediately after the shootings that they had killed the suspected shooter, but later in the evening they recanted and said that he was alive and in stable condition at a hospital, watched by a guard.
"His death is not imminent," said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort Hood. He offered little explanation for the mistake, other than to say there was confusion at the hospital.
A law enforcement official identified the shooting suspect as Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
The violence was believed to be the worst mass shooting in history at a U.S. military base.
The shooting began around 1:30 p.m., when shots were fired at the base's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening, Cone said.
It was unclear what the motive was, though it appeared he was upset about a scheduled deployment. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the Army major was about to deploy overseas, though it was unclear if he was headed to Iraq or Afghanistan and when he was scheduled to leave. Hutchison said she was told about the upcoming deployment by generals based at Fort Hood.
3:35pm update
Fort Hood (ABC News/WSYR-TV) - Twelve people have been killed and 31 wounded in a shooting spree at a Texas military base in a murderous rampage that officials believe was carried out by an Army officer. The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, told Fox News that military sources informed her that the gunman was about to be deployed to Iraq. The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, were taken into custody and later released, according to the office of a Texas congressman. A spokesman for Rep. John Carter says Fort Hood officials informed Carter's office of the release. Carter's congressional district includes the Army post. Hasan allegedly opened fire and killed 11 people on the base before he was shot, bringing the total number of fatalities to 12. The general said there were "eyewitness accounts of more than one shooter," and the others were tracked to an adjacent facility. Cone called the attack "a terrible tragedy, stunning." He said the community was "absolutely devastated." President Obama called the Fort Hood shootings a "horrific outburst of violence." "It is difficult enough to lose" soldiers overseas, but it is "horrifying that they should lose their lives at an Army base in the U.S.," he said. "My prayers are with the wounded and the families of the fallen," said the president. President Obama also offered his help to Cone. "We know this is a tremendous tragedy down there," the president told Gen. Cone, according to a White House official. "Our thoughts are with you and all your soldiers." The Senate and the House of Representatives held a moment of silence this evening for the victims of the Fort Hood massacre. Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered flags be flown at half mast until Sunday. Cone said the motive for the attack, which took place just after 1:30 p.m. CT, is unclear. Fort Hood, located just 60 miles north from Austin, is the largest U.S. military installation in the world, and has suffered the greatest number of casualities of all American bases in the war on Iraq. The base is a 340 sq. mile facility located in Killeen, Texas and is home to the 1st Cavalry Division, which was one of the first groups of soldiers deployed to Iraq. Cone said that a gunman entered a facility known as the Soldier Readiness Facility, where soldiers who are preparing to deploy go for last minute medical check ups and dental treatment. Sources told ABC News that the soldiers gathered there were getting ready to deploy to Iraq. The gunman used two handguns, Cone said. He wasn't sure if the shooter reloaded the weapons during the attack. "The gunman opened fire and essentially due to the quick respond of the police forces was killed," said Cone. The shooter was killed by civilian law enforcement and one police officer died in the shootout, Cone said. The gunman's suspected accomplices were taken into custody in an adjacent facility known as the old SportsDome Complex.
Where Fort Hood is located:
View Larger Map
|
