Army base shooting suspect awake in hospital
Last Updated: Monday, November 9, 2009 | 5:36 PM ET
CBC News
The U.S. flag flies at half-mast in front of the Army's III Corps headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 6, 2009, a day after a shooting rampage at the army base that left 13 people dead. A memorial for the victims is planned for Nov. 10 at the base. (LM Otero/Associated Press) The man suspected of killing 13 people in a shooting rampage at a Texas military base last Thursday is awake and able to talk, according to medical officials.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is in stable condition after being taken off a ventilator on Sunday, said Dewey Mitchell, a spokesman at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
Hasan, a psychiatrist at the Fort Hood army base, was shot four times — including at least once in the torso — by two civilian officers after the Nov. 5 rampage.
Thirteen people — 12 soldiers and one civilian — were killed and 30 were wounded when a gunman opened fire in a room crowded with hundreds of soldiers. The dead included a pregnant woman.
Authorities continue to refer to Hasan, 39, as the only suspect in the shootings but would not say when charges would be filed.
They said they have not determined a motive, but investigators are hoping an interview with Hasan will shed light on the reasons behind the deadly attack.
Motives for attack under investigation
Earlier reports had suggested Hasan was scheduled to be sent to Iraq but didn't want to go. Reports also surfaced on the weekend that suggested Hasan's superiors might have missed warning signs that he was increasingly embracing an extremist interpretation of Islamic ideology.
Six of the 13 people killed at Fort Hood, from top left: Specialist Jason Dean Hunt, 22, of Oklahoma; Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Wisconsin; Pte. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, 19, of Utah; Pte. Michael Pearson, 21, of Illinois; Russell Seager, 51, of Wisconsin; and Francheska Velez, 21, of Chicago. Velez was pregnant and preparing to return home. (Associated Press) U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman on Sunday asked Congress to determine whether the shootings constituted a terrorist attack and whether warning signs were missed.
"If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance," Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, told Fox News.
"He should have been gone."
Army Chief of Staff George Casey said Sunday investigators needed to fully explore the incident before drawing conclusions on the reasons behind the attack.
"I think the speculation could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers," said Casey on ABC's This Week.
U.S. Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said soldiers and civilians on base were getting counselling in the aftermath of the traumatic incident and said civilians on base, including the family members of soldiers, are receiving special attention.
He cautioned, however, that the real impact of the attack might not be known for some time.
"The problems from [these kinds of events] often don’t occur in the days right after the incident," he said. "They tend to happen down the road 30, 60, 90 days. That’s really what we’re concerned about."
A memorial service honouring victims of the attack is scheduled at Fort Hood for Tuesday. U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will attend.
With files from the Associated Press
