From Fox News:
A military doctor who reportedly feared an impending war deployment is in custody as the sole suspect in a shooting rampage at the Army’s Fort Hood that left 12 dead and 31 wounded, an Army official said Thursday night.
The news that the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was alive and in stable condition, came as a sudden reversal of early reports that the gunman was among the dead.
Two other soldiers who were taken into custody as possible suspects were released Lt. Gen. Bob Cone told reporters Thursday evening.
A female first responder who shot at Hasan who was previously thought to be dead, was also alive.
The Fox News report goes on to say that Hasan first came to the attention of Federal Officials were apparently still trying to determine if he was the author of those posts and an official investigation had not been opened.
According the Washington Post Hasan was a devout Muslim who attended service regularly:
Hasan attended the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring and was “very devout,” according to Faizul Khan, a former imam at the center. Khan said Hasan attended prayers at least once a day, seven days a week, often in his Army fatigues.
Khan also said Hasan applied to an annual matrimonial seminar that matches Muslims looking for spouses. “I don’t think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions,” Khan said.
“We never got into details of worldly affairs or politics,” the former imam said of his conversations with Hasan. “Mostly religious questions. But there was nothing extremist in his questions. He never showed any frustration. . . . He never showed any . . . wish for vengeance on anybody.”
I’m not going to speculate on Hasan’s possible motives for a variety of reasons… Suffices to say I’m not buying the media’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder spin. At first blush the circumstantial evidence appears to in very disturbing direction, and it raises a number of questions that need to be answered, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to start jumping to conclusions about Hasan’s motives based on incomplete or inaccurate information. Lets give investigators time do their jobs, I’m sure they’re have answers to all our questions in do course.
Related
- Gunman kills 12 in shooting rampage at Fort Hood base – Reuters
- Local psychiatrist ID’d as Fort Hood gunman worked at Walter Reed – Washington Examiner
- Fort Hood: The largest “Terror act” since 9/11 – Counter terrorism Blog
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