Nov 6, 2009, 14:10 GMT
Washington - The death toll rose to 13 Friday in the deadly shooting at the US Army base in Fort Hood by an army psychiatrist who likely shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as he opened fire.
The US national flag flies at half staff on the US Capitol building to observe the 13 people killed and 30 injured at Fort Hood, Texas, in Washington DC, USA, 06 November 2009. Suspect US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire on his comrades killing 13 and injuring 30 at Fort Hood, 05 November 2009. EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim, likely yelled the Muslim religious chant, Allahu Akbar (God is great), before opening fire in a crowded medical center at Fort Hood, the base commander, Lieutenant General Robert Cone, told NBC news Friday morning.
Cone said 'there are first hand accounts' to that effect.
In an initial reaction, the Washington-based Council on American- Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the killings as a 'cowardly attack' that could not be justified in the name of religion.
CAIR said that 'no religious or political ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence.
'The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all- volunteer army that protects our nation,' CAIR said.
CAIR, which says it is the largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group in the country, called for the perpetrator to 'be punished to the full extent of the law.'
The death toll from the shootings rose from 12 to 13 overnight. Another 30 people were injured in the shootings. All but two were members of the military, officials said Thursday.
The suspect was described as a devout Muslim who opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and had been trying to resign from the Army, according to media reports Friday.
Cone said that investigators, who now include the FBI, had not ruled out the possibility it was a terrorist attack, but said evidence indicated it was not likely.
The shooting stopped when a civilian police officer shot Hasan four times. She also suffered gunshot wounds.
Hasan was in critical condition on a respirator, broadcast reports said. Investigators determined Hasan had been the lone shooter after interviewing more than 100 people on the scene, Cone said.
The shootings shocked a military community accustomed to grieving for soldiers killed in two overseas wars but not prepared for their home base to be turned into a combat zone.
They also threw new light on the growing stress over the past eight years on the men and women in the US military who have been repeatedly deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and sometimes had combat tours extended
Much of Hasan's job had been to counsel soldiers with post- traumatic stress syndrome, beginning at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the nation's capital in 2003, as the US went to war in Iraq.
Hasan was facing his first combat deployment since joining the army in 1995, either to Iraq or Afghanistan, according to a Texas senator quoted by The New York Times.
He had been seeking a discharge for several years from the army, which put him through college and medical school, but had apparently had his request rejected, relatives said.
His cousin, Nader Hasan, told the New York Times that the major was 'mortified by the idea of having to deploy. He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there.'
His aunt in Falls Church, Virginia, told the Washington Post that Hasan had been heckled by fellow soldiers for his Muslim faith in the years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US.
'I know what that is like,' Noel Hasan was quoted as saying. 'Some people can take it, and some cannot. He had listened to all of that, and he wanted out of the military, and they would not let him leave even after he offered to repay' for his medical training.
Colonel Terry Lee, a co-worker of Hasan's, told Fox News that Hasan had once said that Muslims should 'stand up and fight against the aggressor' and that the US should not be fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hasan had been impacted by his work with sounded solders, and by the physical and mental injuries he saw at Walter Reed, his aunt said.
'He must have snapped,' Noel Hasan told the Post. 'They ignored him. It was not hard to know when he was upset.'
She said he was a loner who had no girlfriend and was not married.
When living in the Washington area, he went regularly to the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, wearing Army fatigues, according to the former imam there, Faizul Khan.
Khan told the Post that he came to the mosque several times looking for a suitable woman to marry, but had 'too many conditions' to be satisfied with anyone.
The possibility of a terrorist motive also concerned a woman in the local Muslim community, who noted the effect it could have on how people view Islam.
'My prayers go out to all the families,' Iman Mahmood Hasan bin Hamad told the Statesman. 'I'm really sorry about what's going on. I know the stereotype, but not all Muslims have this intention.'
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