Twelve killed in US Army base shooting rampage (2nd Roundup)

Nov 6, 2009, 1:44 GMT

Washington - A US Army officer opened fire on a base in Texas on Thursday, killing 12 people and wounding 31 others.

Clarifying earlier official reports that the shooter had been shot dead, Lieutenant General Robert Cone, the base commander, said: 'According to preliminary reports, the single shooter was shot multiple times. He was not killed. He is currently in custody and in stable condition.'

'While this was a terrible tragedy, it could have been a lot worse' Cone said.

Two other soldiers who were taken into custody after the shooting were later released.

The gunman was identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, but Cone wouldn't divulge any further details about the suspect, only adding that he was still to be interrogated. 'His death is not imminent,' he said.

Hasan, 39, a psychiatrist, was about to deploy to Iraq, CNN reported. Cone said Hasan was armed with two handguns. 'One was a semi-automatic weapon, which might explain his rate of fire,' Cone said, reiterating that 'the evidence indicates it was a single shooter.'

The motive behind the attack that took place in a readiness centre, where soldiers are processed and medically examined before deploying overseas, was undetermined, Cone said.

The Fort Hood base, the largest US military installation in the world, was no longer placed on lockdown and Friday would be marked as a day of mourning.

Fort Hood, which lies about 95 kilometres north of the Texan capital Austin, houses several units that have been deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More than 40,000 soldiers and their families live on the base. The attack took place at about 1430 local time (1930 GMT) Thursday.

President Barack Obama broke from his planned remarks at a Native American conference in Washington, calling the attack 'tragic' and a 'a horrific outburst of violence.'

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