Leaders of the vibrant Muslim community here expressed outrage on Friday at the shooting rampage being laid to one of their members, Maj Nidal Malik Hasan, who was a regular attendee of prayers at the local mosque. But some of the men who had befriended Maj Hasan said the military should examine the policies that might have caused him to snap.

“When a White guy shoots up a post office, they call that going postal,” said Victor Benjamin, 30, a former member of the Army. “But when a Muslim does it, they call it jihad.

“Ultimately, it was Brother Nidal’s doing, but the command should be held accountable,” Benjamin said.

The mosque, the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, sits off Highway 195, near Fort Hood. Maj Hasan began attending prayers about two months ago.

“After 9/11, nothing happened here,” said Ajsaf Khan, who owns three convenience stores with his brother. “We are very cooperative.”

A mosque leader, Dr Manzoor Farooqi, a paediatrician, when asked if he feared retribution for the shootings, said he hoped good relations would prevail.

Maj Hasan was one of 10 men from Fort Hood who attended prayers in their uniforms, Farooqi said, and he was shocked to see the major’s face on television. “I can’t believe he would do such a stupid thing.”

“The Islamic community strongly condemns this cowardly attack, which was particularly heinous in that it was directed at the all-volunteer Army that protects our nation,” Farooqi said.

Among those attending Friday prayers at the Killeen mosque was Sgt Fahad Kamal, 26, an Army medic. “I want to believe it was the individual, and not the religion, that made him do what he did,” said Kamal. “It’s an awful thing. I feel let down.”