Army says 13 people dead and 30 wounded in attack at Fort Hood, Texas

[David]

TIME


The west side of Killeen, Texas is like countless other places in America's heartland, freshly carved out of prairie pastures with wide streets in bucolic neighborhoods like "Sunflower Estates" and "Bridgewood." But on a glorious cloudless fall day, the flags at the home sales center nearby are at half mast in honor of the 13 fallen at Ft. Hood, victims of a gunman whose deadly attack was stopped thanks to a petite, long-haired blonde mom from the neigborhood.


Sgt. Kimberly Munley, 34, a civilian Department of Defense police officer at the base, is credited with stopping the firing rampage of U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan at the Soldier Readiness Center within a few minutes after he launched his attack. The center is a quick five minute drive from Munley's home, past the new strip centers and the high school football field along wide Cross Creek Boulevard, but a world away from the horrors inflicted in one of the worst incidents of soldier-on-soldier violence in U.S. Army history.

Munley, described by neighbor Brooke Beato, as "very petite, with long blonde hair and a strong personality," was credited by base officials with preventing further carnage by aggressively engaging Hasan as he shot at her. She rounded a corner, took aim at Hasan and brought him down, officials said. "It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer," base commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said. It also was a tactic straight out of recent lessons learned from the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, when first responders waited for additional backup before engaging the shooter.


"She walked up and engaged him," said Lt. Gen. Cone told Associated Press. As a member of the base Special Reaction Team, Munley had learned that "if you act aggressively to take out a shooter, you will have less fatalities," Cone said.


Soon after Munley fired at Hasan, taking him down, she herself fell wounded and police radios quickly sent out an "Officer down" call. Wounded three times in the arm and leg, Munley is in stable condition after undergoing surgery Friday to repair damage to an artery. Base officials said she wishes she could have acted even faster and saved more lives, and she spent Thursday evening calling friends and colleagues, expressing those regrets.


While Thursday's shooting sent a shockwave through the tight-knit Killeen community, Beato, whose husband is an Army captain, said she was not surprised when Munley's name surfaced as the police officer who ended the shooting. "It was just like her - she carries herself with confidence," Beato said.


Beato is a 30-year-old mother of four whose children often play with Munley's daughters, ages 12 and 3, in the quiet cul-de-sac. "I couldn't believe what happened, but when I heard what she did," says Beato of her neighbor, "I believed that because of who she is - I know her."


Munley, who worked as a police officer for five years in North Carolina where her father, Dennis Barbour, once served as mayor of Carolina Beach, is a talented shooter and member of the base's Special Reaction Team which trains for the possibility of events like Thursday's shooting rampage. She also is a passionate fan of Twitter and once news of her actions spread, her followers began to blossom in number - among them country singer Dierks Bentley who posed for a photo with the petite police officer at the fort's annual July Fourth Freedom Fest. The photo is posted on her Twitter page along with a brief biographical quote: "I live a good life...a hard one, but I go to sleep peacefully at night knowing that I may have made a difference in someone's life."











This July 4, 2009 photo obtained Nov. 6, 2009 from the Twitter page of Sgt Kimberly Munley shows Sgt. Munley at Freedom Fest in Frisco, Texas. Officials say 34-year-old Munley ended the shooting spree at Fort Hood on Thursday, Nov. 5 when she shot and wounded alleged shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

[David]

AP


SAN ANTONIO – A U.S. Army hospital spokesman says the man suspected in a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, is conscious and able to talk.

Dewey Mitchell, a spokesman at Brooke Army Medical Center, says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan remains in stable condition. Mitchell says Hasan has been awake and able to talk since he was taken off a ventilator Saturday.

Hasan is at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood.

Authorities say the 39-year-old Hasan opened fire at a processing center Thursday at Fort Hood, the country's largest military installation. Thirteen people were killed and 29 were wounded.

The rampage ended when civilian police shot Hasan.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — A U.S. Army spokesman says the man suspected in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood is in critical but stable condition at Texas hospital.

Col. John Rossi told Fox News early Monday that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's condition has not changed since he was taken off a ventilator Saturday.

Hasan is at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood.

Authorities say the 39-year-old Hasan opened fire at a processing center Thursday at Fort Hood, the country's largest military installation. Thirteen people were killed and 29 were wounded.

The shooting spree ended when a civilian police officer shot Hasan.

Rossi says the center remains a crime scene, but that the base is "working on healing."

[David]

AP


FORT HOOD, Texas – Pvt. Joseph Foster took a bullet in the leg during the Fort Hood shooting rampage. He pauses when he's asked about the mayhem, then credits a stout heritage with bringing him through the ordeal and leaving him eager for his scheduled January deployment to Afghanistan.

"I'm Irish. It hit the bone and bounced out," Foster, of Ogden, Utah, said Sunday of the bullet that tore into his left hip. His wife is uneasy about the deployment, but the 21-year-old Foster is resolute. "I'm a soldier. It's my job."

Across Fort Hood, signs point to a post on the mend after the shooting spree Thursday that killed 13 and wounded 29. Accused gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, shot in the torso by civilian police to end the rampage, was in stable condition and able to talk Monday at an Army hospital in San Antonio.

Authorities continue to refer to Hasan, 39, as the only suspect in the shootings but they won't say when charges would be filed and have said they have not determined a motive.

Sixteen victims remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds, and seven were in intensive care.

Even as the community took time to mourn the victims at worship services on and off the post Sunday, Fort Hood spokesman Col. John Rossi said the country's largest military installation was moving forward with the business of soldiering. The processing center where Hasan allegedly opened fire remains a crime scene, but the activities that went on there were relocated, with the goal of soon reopening the center.

"There's a lot of routine activity still happening. You'll hear cannon fire and artillery fire," Rossi said. "Soldiers in units are still trying to execute the missions we have been tasked with."

President Barack Obama will attend a memorial service Tuesday honoring victims of the attack, amid growing suggestions that Hasan's superior officers may have missed signs that he was embracing an increasingly extremist view of Islamic ideology.

Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday he wants Congress to determine whether the shootings constitute a terrorist attack and whether warning signs were missed. A day earlier, classmates who participated in a 2007-2008 master's program at a military college told The Associated Press that they complained to faculty during the program about what they considered to be Hasan's anti-American views, which included his giving a presentation that justified suicide bombing and telling classmates that Islamic law trumped the U.S. Constitution.

"If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have zero tolerance," Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said on "Fox News Sunday." "He should have been gone."

The personal Web site for a radical American imam living in Yemen who had contact with two 9/11 hijackers praised Hasan as a hero.

The posting Monday on the Web site for Anwar al Awlaki, who was a spiritual leader at two mosques where three 9/11 hijackers worshipped, said American Muslims who condemned the attacks on the Texas military base last week are hypocrites who have committed treason against their religion. Two U.S. intelligence officials told The Associated Press the Web site was Al Awlaki's. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence collection.

Army Chief of Staff George Casey warned Sunday against reaching conclusions about the suspected shooter's motives until investigators have fully explored the attack. "I think the speculation (on Hasan's Islamic roots) could potentially heighten backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers," he said on ABC's "This Week."

Sgt. 1st Class Frank Minnie was in the processing center Monday and Wednesday, getting some health tests and immunizations in preparation for his deployment. The mass shooting happened Thursday, but Minnie said Fort Hood soldiers have the attitude that "the mission still goes on."

"Everybody's going to grieve a little bit. It hurts a lot because it's one of your battle buddies, and someone lost a mom, dad, brother or sister," said Minnie, 37, who served in Iraq in 2006. "But it doesn't change my perspective of going to war. I've got a job to do."

















Pvt. Joseph Foster, who was wounded during the Thursday's Fort Hood shooting, along with his wife Mandi and 6 month old daughter Keilee, speaks to the media outside his home Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 in Fort Hood, Texas.

[darrels joy]

Alleged Fort Hood Shooter Frequented Local Strip Club

Monday , November 09, 2009
By Jana Winter


KILLEEN, Texas —

The Army psychiatrist authorities say killed 13 people and wounded 29 others at the Fort Hood Army Base Thursday was a recent and frequent customer at a local strip club, employees of the club told FoxNews.com exclusively.


Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan came into the Starz strip club not far from the base at least three times in the past month, the club's general manager, Matthew Jones, told FoxNews.com. Army investigators building their case against Hasan plan to interview Jones soon.

"The last time he was here, I remember checking his military ID at the door, and he paid his $15 cover and stayed for six or seven hours," Jones, 37, said.

Hasan's presence at the club paints a starkly different portrait of the alleged killer from that offered by his imam and family members, who have described him as a devout Muslim, and one who had difficulty finding a wife who would wear a head scarf and would pray five times a day.

Starz is a strip club located just down the road from the main gate entrance to the Fort Hood Base. It does not serve alcohol, but customers bring their own beer and liquor and buy ice buckets and mixers at the club.

Hasan sat at a table in the back corner of the club, to the left of the stage on which strippers dance around a pole, employees said.

Jennifer Jenner, who works at Starz using the stage name Paige, said Hasan bought a lap dance from her two nights in a row. She said he paid $50 for a dance lasting three songs in one of the club's private rooms on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.

"I remembered his face because it was the first lap dance I [gave] to a customer while working here," she said. "When I saw his face [Friday] on TV, I jumped out of bed, I knew it was him."

Jenner, 31, said Hasan was dressed casually both nights he came to the club - in jeans and a T-shirt the first night and then wearing a baseball cap the next. She recalled that he arrived at about 6:30 p.m. and stayed until 2 a.m. She said he brought in a six pack of light beer, took only a few sips from one can and gave the rest to the strippers.

"He preferred the blondes," said Jenner, whose hair was dyed blond at the time. "He said he was a medic and that he was being deployed soon, but mostly he wanted to ask us questions."

"He asked us why we were working at the strip club, if we liked the lifestyle, if we had any kids," she said. "It was right before Halloween so he asked what our kids were dressing up as. He just wanted to know a lot about us."

Jenner said she asked Hasan why he liked coming to Starz instead of another of the roughly half a dozen other clubs nearby, all about an 8-minute drive from the Army base.

"I like it here because no one I work with is here," she said Hasan replied.
Starz is smaller than most of the other clubs, has only about 10 dancers and caters to a louder crowd. Jenner said Army medics generally don't hang out at the club.

"He wasnt too loud like some of our other customers, or sleazy. He didn't try to take any of us home and he was respectful," she said. "I think he mostly came here to kill some time and just relax. He stood out here because he was much more reserved than our other customers.

"I just can't believe that he's the one who killed all those people. You know, he tipped every girl as she came off the stage after her dance. He was a really good tipper."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573052,00.html

[darrels joy]

Hoekstra to FBI, CIA: Save All Fort Hood Papers

Monday, November 9, 2009 12:00 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, following up on multiple conversations with the Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, requested over the weekend that Blair and the heads of the FBI, the NSA and the CIA direct their agencies to preserve all documents and materials relevant to the Fort Hood attack and any related investigations or intelligence collection activities. "President Obama said people should not jump to conclusions about what happened at Fort Hood, but the administration is in possession of critical information related to the attack that they are refusing to release to Congress or the American people," Hoekstra said. "I intend to push for intense review of this and other issues related to the performance of the intelligence community and whether or not information necessary for military, state and local officials to provide for the security of the post was provided to them." Hoekstra said he was concerned that more information had been provided, piecemeal, to the news media by anonymous sources than had yet been provided to the Committee. He criticized the Obama administration for not being more immediately forthcoming with details and specifically requested information, and for restricting the limited information provided so far to the so-called "Gang of Eight." "I have requested this information be preserved because I believe members of the full committee on a bipartisan basis will want to scrutinize the intelligence relevant to this attack, what the agencies in possession of that intelligence did with it, who was and wasn’t informed and why, and what steps America’s intelligence agencies are taking in light of what they know," Hoekstra said. "At some point, it becomes necessary for us as a nation to address the uncomfortable threat of homegrown terrorism and radicalism, and Congress has an obligation to review how federal agencies are handling and disseminating information related to the threat. "The horrific shootings at Fort Hood are a tragic reminder of the potential deadly consequences of the threat posed by homegrown jihadism and the failure of the government to adequately respond to it."

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/h...09/283677.html

[darrels joy]

...

A disgruntled doctor

Hasan was born in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech, according to The Roanoke Times archives.

He later received two degrees from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., according to Hasan's military record and a university newsletter.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin, was briefed by military officials and said Hasan had taken some unusual classes for someone studying about mental health.

"He took a lot of extra classes in weapons training, which seems a little odd for a psychiatrist," McCaul said.

McCaul said Hasan had received poor grades for his work at Walter Reed and was not happy about his situation in Fort Hood, where Hasan apparently felt like "he didn't fit in."

"He's disgruntled because he had a poor performance evaluation, he doesn't believe in the mission, he's looking at getting transferred to Afghanistan or Iraq," McCaul said. "He's not happy about all that."

McCaul added that officials planned to interview Hasan to try to determine for sure that he was not working with foreign agents.

"From an intelligence standpoint, that's key, finding out if he talked to anyone overseas," McCaul said.

Hasan had come to the attention of federal law enforcement officials at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

The official said investigators were trying to confirm that Hasan was the author of the postings, one of which was a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades. One of the officials said federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorize seizure of Hasan's computer.
...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/militar...ort-Hood_N.htm

[darrels joy]

Major Muslim's Calling Card: "SoA", "Soldier of Allah"


Here is the card that major Muslim Nidal Hasan gave to the infidels along with a quran before meeting his 72 raisins.

Could this lowlife jihadi be any more devout? He mosqued every day. Hated America, hated the troops, proselytized his co-workers, planned his jihad and completed his mission. His head was shaved. What else was shaved? If his body was shaved like his head, then the military guys and law enforcement know and have known that this was jihad, and they are scamming us now.

Now look at the card. Notice the SoA on the card? Soldiers of Allah. Followed by SWT, an abbreviation that usually follows the word Allah. (hat tip Robert)

When writing the name of God (Allah), Muslims often follow it with the abbreviation "SWT." These letters stand for the Arabic words "Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala," or "Glory to Him, the Exalted." Muslims use these or similar words to glorify God when mentioning His name.

Definition: When writing the name of God (Allah), Muslims often follow it with the abbreviation "SWT." These letters stand for the Arabic words "Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala," or "Glory to Him, the Exalted." Muslims use these or similar words to glorify God when mentioning His name.

Pronunciation: sub-han'-a-hoo wa ta a la
Also Known As: Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
Alternate Spellings: subhana wa ta'ala; subhanna wa ta'ala
Examples:
Muslims believe that Allah SWT created the universe.

UPDATE: Check this out:
Mosque: Dar Al-Hijrah
The suspected Fort Hood terrorist's former mosque in Maryland is controlled by the radical Muslim Brotherhood, a Saudi-funded worldwide jihadist movement which controls many of the mosques in America.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/a...-of-allah.html

[David]

AP


KILLEEN, Texas – A lawyer for the Army psychiatrist accused in a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood said Monday he asked investigators not to question his client and expressed doubt that the suspect would be able to get a fair trial, given the widespread attention to the case.

Retired Col. John P. Galligan said he was contacted Monday by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's family and was headed to an Army hospital in San Antonio to meet Hasan.

"Until I meet with him, it's best to say we're just going to protect all of his rights," Galligan said.

Hasan, 39, is accused of opening fire on the Army post on Thursday, killing 13 people and wounding 29 before civilian police shot him in the torso. He was taken into custody and eventually moved to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he was in stable condition Monday and able to talk, hospital spokesman Dewey Mitchell said.

Galligan said he didn't know if Hasan had been medically cleared to talk.
"There's a lot of facts that still need to be developed, and the time for that will come in due course," he said.

Authorities won't say when charges would be filed or if Hasan would face military justice.

Galligan questioned whether Hasan could get a fair trial in either criminal or military court, given President Barack Obama's planned visit to the base on Tuesday and public comments by the post commander, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone.

"You've got his commander in chief showing up tomorrow," Galligan said. "That same kind of publicity naturally creates an issue as to whether you find a fair and impartial forum, whether that's in the military or even if it were in a federal forum."

Authorities say Hasan fired off more than 100 rounds at a soldier processing center. Fifteen victims remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds, and eight were in intensive care.

Authorities continue to refer to Hasan as the only suspect in the rampage, but they have said they have not determined a motive. A spokesman for Army investigators did not immediately respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment Monday.

A radical American imam living in Yemen who had contact with two 9/11 hijackers praised Hasan as a hero as a hero on his personal Web site Monday.

The posting on the Web site for Anwar al Awlaki, who was a spiritual leader at two mosques where three 9/11 hijackers worshipped, said American Muslims who condemned the Fort Hood attack are hypocrites who have committed treason against their religion.

Awlaki said the only way a Muslim can justify serving in the U.S. military is if he intends to "follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal."

"Nidal Hassan (sic) is a hero," Awlaki said. "He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people."

Two U.S. intelligence officials told The Associated Press the Web site was Awlaki's. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence collection. Awlaki did not immediately respond to an attempt to contact him through the Web site.

Hasan's family attended the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., where Awlaki was preaching in 2001. Hasan's mother's funeral was held at the mosque on May 31, 2001, according to her obituary in the Roanoke Times newspaper, around the same time two 9/11 hijackers worshipped at the mosque and while Awlaki was preaching.


The Falls Church mosque is one of the largest on the East Coast, and thousands of worshippers attend prayers and services there every week.
Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, outreach director at Dar al Hijrah, said he did not know whether Hasan ever attended the mosque but confirmed that the Hasan family participated in services there. Abdul-Malik said the Hasans were not leaders at the mosque and their attendance was normal.

Fort Hood officials said the country's largest military installation was moving forward with the business of soldiering. The building where Hasan allegedly opened fire remains a crime scene, but a processing center is scheduled to reopen Thursday in a new, temporary location.
Command Sgt. Maj. Arthur L. Coleman Jr. said Monday that reopening the center is an important step in returning the Army post to normal. Cone said the post stepped up security, including suspending visits by the public, largely to reassure the population that the sprawling base is safe and won't "become a battlefield."

[darrels joy]

Fort Hood suspect to be tried in military court
10 Nov 2009 00:52:10 GMT
Source: Reuters


WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The army psychiatrist suspected in the killing of 13 people in a shooting at the Fort Hood Army post will be charged in a military court, U.S. government officials said on Monday.



The official said there is no indication that the accused gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim born in the United States of immigrant parents, had been planning an attack.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09283409.htm

[eriksale]

Is there a chance Sgt Munley could be Commander in Chief? The current one doesn't have a clue!

Just wondering?