HOUSTON – The US army has charged a military psychiatrist with 13 counts of murder in last week’s shooting spree at the Fort Hood army base, which shocked the country as it prepared to celebrate Veterans Day.
An army spokesman said yesterday that Maj Nidal Malik Hasan (39), a Muslim born in the United States of immigrant parents, was charged with murdering the 13 victims of the November 5th rampage at Fort Hood, the world’s biggest military facility.
He could face the death penalty and the case has drawn criticism of army intelligence after it became known that Maj Hasan had been in contact with an Islamic figure sympathetic to al-Qaeda.
US president Barack Obama has ordered a review of how intelligence agencies handled information they may have gathered about Maj Hasan following questions about whether authorities may have missed warning signs about him.
Maj Hasan is undergoing treatment at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, for wounds from the gunshots that took him down during the attack.
If convicted of premeditated murder by a military court he could face the death penalty, a US military official said.
The army is not ruling out bringing further charges against Maj Hasan. “We are doing everything possible and we are looking at every reason for this shooting,” said Chris Grey, a spokesman for the army’s Criminal Investigation Division. – (Reuters)