US Army Major kills 12 at military base shooting spree

Hasan opened fire with two handguns at a military processing centre,where soldiers go for a last-minute medical check up before being sent on deployment.

The soldiers were making their final preparations for deployment to Iraq,Fort Hood’s base commander Lt Gen Bob Cone told reporters late last evening.

The attacker was shot several times in exchange of fire and was captured. “His death is not imminent,” said Cone.

Military officials said that the soldier attacked other troops at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center and the adjacent Howze Theater on the sprawling Central Texas post.

Ten of those killed were soldiers,Cone said.

Two other soldiers were taken into custody but later released after being interviewed.

Cone did not speculate about a motive,but the Army released a statement saying it did not believe the shootings were an act of political terrorism.

The incident that sent shock waves across the country was termed by Obama as “a horrific outburst of violence”.

“It is difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas… It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil,” Obama said in Washington.

Hasan is a psychiatrist who got his Virginia psychiatry license in 2005. He was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to Fort Hood in July,officials said.

According to the Federal law enforcement officials,Hasan had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.

The officials,who had access to Hasan’s military record,said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed. They spoke on condition of anonymity because military records are confidential.

The Virginia-born soldier was single and had no children.

Hasan’s cousin Nader Hasan said she believed it was his upcoming deployment combined with the wartime horror stories he heard from his patients that set him off,ABC said.

Hasan had recently hired an attorney to help him get out of the military.

According to Nader,Hasan was also harassed after 9/11 because of his ethnicity,and was called a “camel jockey”.

Obama,who was originally scheduled to spend more time at the Tribal Nations Conference,immediately rushed to his Oval office to take stock of the situation.

“We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident,” he said and left the stage.

Cone said local police responded quickly and took control of the situation. “It’s a terrible tragedy. It’s stunning,” he said.

Lt Col Chris Carver,Army spokesman at the Pentagon,said he didn’t know what the motive was for the shooting.

Texas Governor Rick Perry,at news conference in Denton,said the state had “the right people on the scene”.

He ordered all flags in Texas be lowered to half-staff until Sunday,asked “all Texans to pray for their (victims) families”.

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas said time was needed to gather all the facts about the incident.

“It would be irresponsible to be the source of rumours or inaccurate information regarding such a horrific event,” he said in a statement.

Fort Hood in central Texas,is one of the largest military installations in the world with 40,000 troops. Its primary mission is to maintain a state of readiness for US combat missions.

At least 25,000 people are at Fort Hood on any given day,an Army spokesman at the Pentagon said.

The Senate and the House of Representatives held a moment of silence for the victims of the Fort Hood massacre.