'God is great' shouted before massacre

A UNITED States army officer who killed 13 people in a gun rampage at a Texas army base shouted an Islamic slogan before opening fire, it was claimed last night.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, in preparation for deployment in Afghanistan, despite apparent links to radical Islamic websites and his open support for suicide bombers.

The US Army spokesman, Lieutenant-General Bob Cone, said witnesses heard Hasan cry, "Allahu Akbar" – Arabic for "God is great" – before opening fire.

The military psychiatrist was last night "stable" in a nearby hospital after surviving a shoot-out with policewoman Sergeant Kimberly Munley.

Hasan, 39, had spent years counselling severely wounded and traumatised soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington, DC, many of whom had lost limbs during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He had been transferred to Fort Hood in April.

Shortly before 1:30pm local time on Thursday, Hasan – armed with two non-military-issue pistols – entered an area used to prepare soldiers for deployment overseas and started firing.

He had been shopping in the compound moments earlier, with CCTV pictures showing him dressed in traditional Muslim robes and smiling at a shop assistant.

Within minutes, 12 soldiers and a civilian were dead and 30 people injured in the worst-ever shooting at a military base in the United States.

Witnesses described scenes of complete carnage as the officer entered the Soldier Readiness Facility, where troops receive final medical check-ups before being deployed overseas, and opened fire.

George Stratton said his son, George Stratton III, was five feet from the gunman and dived behind a desk to escape a hail of bullets.

"Around 15 rounds went off and people started dropping to the floor," he said. "My son peeked up over the desk, and that was when he got shot.

"He said he saw one of the (non-commissioned officers] get badly shot. He told me, 'Dad, I got up, held my arm and took off running'."

Among the dead was 21-year-old Private Michael Pearson. His mother, Sheryll, said her son was shot three times in the spine and chest.

"His father is still in shock and very angry," Mrs Pearson said. "We're all very angry."

Hasan was being treated in hospital under armed guard last night.

Lt-Gen Cone said Hasan was on a ventilator and unconscious, but added: "I would say his death is not imminent."

Investigators were trying to establish the motive behind the attack, as it emerged Hasan was already under investigation for his radical views.

Retired Colonel Terry Lee, who worked with the major, said: "He was so outspoken I once said to him, 'Look, you got to cool it.' He was reacting with open glee at the death of some soldiers by a suicide bomber."

Mr Lee said Hasan repeatedly stated: "Muslims should rise up against the aggressors."

Defence sources said that 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 that compared suicide bombers to soldiers who threw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades. Hasan is alleged to have written on one website that suicide bombers "help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard, that would be considered a strategic victory".

President Barack Obama made an emergency statement at the White House yesterday. He said he had met Robert Mueller, the director of the FBI, and ordered that flags be flown at half-staff until next Wednesday.

He said: "I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts.

"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 in one of the worst mass shootings ever to take place on an American military base."

It emerged last night that Hasan had given away many of his possessions before the attack, including a copy of the Koran.

A neighbour, Patricia Villa, said Hasan came to her flat on Wednesday and Thursday and offered her some personal items, saying he was going to be deployed on Friday.

PROFILE

NIDAL Malik Hasan, 39, was born in suburban Washington and was described by his family as a "good American".

In 1997 he graduated with a degree in biochemistry from Virginia Tech, scene of a mass shooting in 2007.

For six years before he reported for duty in July at Fort Hood in Texas, the major pursuing a career in psychiatry at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. He received his medical degree at the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences at Bethesda, Maryland, in 2001.

In a statement his cousin Nader Hasan said: "We are shocked and saddened by the terrible events at Fort Hood. We send the families of the victims our most heartfelt sympathies.

"We are filled with grief for the families of today's victims. Our family loves America. We are proud of our country."