Texas army base shooting: Death toll rises to 13

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 14:01

A US officer who killed 13 soldiers in a gun rampage at a Texas army base was being investigated for links to extremist websites, security sources said today.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a devout American-born Muslim, was on life support after being shot several times by guards at the Fort Hood base.

Armed with two non-military issue pistols, including a semi-automatic, Hasan, a military psychiatrist, entered a section used to prepare soldiers for deployment overseas and started firing.

Within minutes, 13 soldiers at the base were dead or dying in the worst mass shooting yet at a military base in the US.

At least 30 others – including two civilians – were injured in an attack described by President Barack Obama as an "horrific outburst of violence".

Officials were trying to establish the motive behind the attack.

Retired Colonel Terry Lee, who worked with Hasan, claimed the major was anti-war and argued with comrades who supported operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hasan, a 39-year-old from Virginia, was also due to be sent to Afghanistan, something family members said would have been his "worst nightmare".

Defence sources said at least six months ago Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats.

They included posts which compared suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

Investigators were not certain whether Hasan had written the posts and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said the sources.

Hasan was shot four times but survived and was being treated in hospital under armed guard.

Army spokesman Lieutenant General Bob Cone said he was on a ventilator and unconscious, but added: "I would say his death is not imminent."

His cousin, Nader Hasan, described him as "a good American".

He said the family was "shocked", adding: "We just found out on the news that he was being deployed, he never even told us.

"We've known for the last four or five years that was probably his worst nightmare. He deals with stories, he would tell us how he would hear things, horrific things."