Fort Hood Shooter May Have Been On FBI's Radar

A still from surveillance video showing Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Hasan at 7-Eleven yesterday morning. (He reportedly changed into his military uniform before the shooting.)

The army psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded 31 at Fort Hood yesterday may have come to the attention of the FBI at least six months ago, because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats. One posting on the website Scribd was attributed to Nidal Hasan, but investigators have not yet been able to confirm that the writer is Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the 39-year-old who was apprehended after yesterday's massacre.

The Scribd posting argues that, "If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory." Maj. Hasan, a Muslim and the son of immigrant parents from a small Palestinian town near Jerusalem, is single and has no children. He was reportedly upset about his imminent deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq, and also disturbed by harassment from other soldiers about his faith. Now he's on a ventilator and unconscious, and the top commander at Fort Hood, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, told reporters this morning that "his death is not imminent." Cone also said that Hasan yelled "Allahu Akbar!" before the shooting.

Lt. Cone also told the press that it was a female police officer who ultimately neutralized Hasan. Fort Hood police Sgt. Kimberly Munley and her partner responded within three minutes of reported gunfire yesterday, and Munley shot Hasan four times, despite being shot herself. She is in stable condition, and Cone said, "It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer."

CNN spoke with the owner of a 7-Eleven at Fort Hood where Maj. Hasan would regularly stop for coffee in the morning; surveillance footage from the store shows him wearing traditional Arab garb at 6:20 a.m. yesterday. The owner says, "He looked normal. Came in had his hash browns and coffee as you see in the surveillance video." But seven hours later he would open fire using two civilian handguns at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where soldiers begin the process of vaccinations prior to deployment.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on November 6, 2009 10:10 AM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

"I met him at the 7-11, now he's got 73 virgins in heaven..."

thewildpansy

WHY is this on this site? I don't understand. You're a local news site I can get this crap anywhere.

Spirit of 76

WHY are you reading this story? I don't understand. There are something like 35 other stories posted on Gothamist today that you could have read instead.

Mr Mel

But you don't get the amazingly insightful comments on those stories.

Clarice City

If you were an angry muslim dude, wouldn't it just suck to get taken down by a woman of all things?

rides on farts

or a menstruating sow ridden by a

crosby

This is a pretty major national story

shovel

I wonder why Lt. Cone thought it was necessary to specifically mention that the heroic officer was female?

FrankMartin

It is possible he was trying to point out a woman can do anything. There are people who view woman as inferior and he may have been trying to speak directly to that population. And in doing so make them realize they are wrong.

Maybe he supports allowing women in combat units and he sees this females actions as evidence of their equality and ability

militza

Nidal Malik Hasan "is single and has no children"

or maybe he's just cranky at women, like that other guy who went on a rampage at a gym.

hotstepper

"also disturbed by harassment from other soldiers about his faith."

i guess the soldiers were on to something there.

Bort

Can we start a petition for a live broadcast of this fucker's execution?

marcasm

He is such a devout Muslim may I suggest a nice traditional stoning. Maybe use small rocks to make it last a little longer. Add some intermissions for visits to the restroom, re-fill popcorn bowls, freshen drinks.