Tom Murphy
Newswire21.org

An Army psychiatrist, enraged that he was being shipped to Iraq, opened fire with two handguns at a medical center at Fort Hood in Texas, fatally wounding 13 people and injuring 30 others before being shot during the worst mass murder ever at a US military installation, according to government sources.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, was shot by a civilian police officer after the rampage, which occurred at about 1:30 pm in a center where soldiers are evaluated medically before and after their deployment, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Cone. Hasan was treated at a local hospital where he was under arrest, according to Cone, who expected the gunman to survive.

Twelve people were killed immediately. A 13th victim died hours later in a nearby hospital, authorities said. The woman who shot Hasan four times was among the wounded, but was expected to recover, military officials said.

"We believe the evidence indicates it was a single shooter," said Cone, who said the investigation was continuing. Cone said the base would observe a day of mourning on Friday, then return to normal operation.

Less than 50 meters from the shooting, 138 soldiers were participating in a graduation ceremony with about 600 people present. Authorities immediately sealed off that area, eliminating the possibility of a greater tragedy. "As horrible as this was, it could have been much worse," said Cone.

Little was known about Hasan's motivation - Cone said he "can't really speak about Major Hasan," but there were unconfirmed reports that he had come to the attention of authorities six months ago after disturbing references on the Internet.

A convenience store owner told CNN that Hasan was a regular customer who had spoken of being concerned about his upcoming deployment to Irzq. A tape showed Hasan in the market on Thursday morning, wearing white Muslim garb and acting casually as he bought a cup of coffee.

Angry About Deployment
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, whose state includes Fort Hood, the nation's largest active-duty military installation, said Hasan was about to be deployed to Iraq "and appeared to be upset about that." 

Two other people were held briefly but released when it became clear they weren't involved, base spokesman Chris Hoag said. The conditions of the wounded ranged from minor to serious, according to Hoag.

"I think that there is a lot of investigation going on now into his background and what he was doing that was not known before," Hutchison told KAXN, a Texas television station.

President Obama called the shootings  "a horrific outburst of violence."

"It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas," the president said. "It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."

The survivors were taken to hospitals in the surrounding area, which issued urgent calls for donations of all types of blood.

Fort Hood, home to more than 40,000 troops, was closed after the incident.