Killeen, Texas: Investigators searched on Friday for the motive behind a mass shooting at a sprawling U.S. Army base in Texas, in which an Army psychiatrist trained to treat war wounded is suspected of killing 13 people.
The suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim born in the United States of immigrant parents, was shot four times by police, a base spokesman said. He was unconscious but in stable condition.
A woman died overnight from her wounds, raising the toll from Thursday`s shootings to 13 dead and 30 wounded, said Colonel John Rossi, a spokesman at Fort Hood, the biggest military facility in the world.
Hasan was transferred on Friday afternoon by helicopter to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Rossi said. He had been on a ventilator in a civilian hospital.
The Army declined to discuss possible motives while the investigation was under way. "We have to understand what caused the suspect to act in the way that he did," Army Secretary John McHugh said after observing a moment of silence at the base.
Army Chief of Staff George Casey said: "This was a kick in the gut."
The gunman, with two guns including a semi-automatic weapon, opened fire apparently without warning at the crowded Soldiers Readiness Processing Center, where troops were getting medical checkups before leaving for foreign deployments.
Hasan, 39, had spent years counselling severely wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, many of whom had lost limbs fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was transferred to Fort Hood in April and was to have been deployed to Afghanistan, where the U.S. military is engaged in an increasingly bloody war against Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.
The Army Criminal Investigation Command and the FBI are investigating the shootings and no charges have been brought against Hasan, McHugh said.
US faces potential minefield over Muslims and the military
Washington: The US military faced fraught
questions about the recruitment, safety and role of Muslims in
the armed services after a shooting massacre blamed on a
devout Muslim officer.
About 3,500 service members in the 1.4 million-strong US
armed forces call themselves Muslim, and the man suspected of
slaying 13 people at a Texas army base on Thursday, Major
Nidal Malik Hasan, is one of them.
It remained unclear what led the army psychiatrist to
allegedly open fire on his fellow soldiers, but an emerging
portrait of Hasan suggested his Islamic faith and
sensitivities may have played a decisive role.
His aunt said he had faced anti-Muslim harassment on the
job and wanted a discharge, while a co-worker told Fox News he
had expressed anger over the US war in Iraq and spoke of the
need for Muslims to "stand up and fight against the
aggressor."
As a criminal investigation got under way,
Islamic-American groups called for calm amid fears of a
possible backlash while some right-wing commentators spoke of
the threat of a Muslim "fifth column" infiltrating the army.
The military leadership, which prides itself on a diverse
force and a code of tolerance, said there were no immediate
signs of an angry reaction against Muslims serving in the
armed forces.
Bureau Report
