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Fort Hood shooter may have been Army psychiatrist

By Nancy Youssef / McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The Army major suspected of opening fire on soldiers as they were preparing to deploy overseas at the massive Fort Hood military base in central Texas Thursday may have been an Army psychiatrist who recently completed training in disaster and preventive psychiatry at Walter Reed Medical Center in the nation's capital.

A military official who asked not to be identified said the gunman was Army Major Malik Nidal Hasan, 39. Hasan was killed after he opened fire at Fort Hood's Soldiers Readiness Processing Center.

The official provided no other information on Hasan. But Virginia state medical licensing records list a Nidal Malik Hasan as a psychiatrist for the Army Medical Corps, with his primary practice at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood. The phone number listed for him in the Virginia records, which carried a Maryland area code, was unanswered.

According to the records, Hasan completed a residency in psychiatry at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. in 2007 and additional training in disaster and preventive psychiatry at Uniformed Services University Of the Health Sciences F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine, Bethesda, Md.. At least 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in a shooting at Fort Hood Army Base near Killeen, Texas, when at least one gunmen opened fire on soldiers who were making their final deployment preparations.

Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, the commander of III Corps, said that at least one gunman opened fire at the base's Soldiers Readiness Processing Center where soldiers were receiving medical and dental exams prior to deployment. The gunman's fire was returned -- Cone did not say by whom -- and the gunman was killed. Two other soldiers who may have participated in the shootings were arrested in nearby buildings, Cone said.

At least one of the victims was a civilian police officer working at the base, Cone said. He did not identify the other victims.

Cone said the investigation of the shootings had been hindered by lockdown procedures at the base, but he seemed to discount reports that gunfire had been heard at several widely separated locations on the base, including the post exchange and base housing units.

All of the dead and wounded came from the vicinity of the readiness center, he said.

Fort Hood is the second largest military base in the United States, home to at least 4,929 active duty officers and 45,414 enlisted personnel. Civilian employees total nearly 9,000. Among the units based there are the 1st Cavalry Division and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Most of the base's units are currently deployed to Iraq.

Pentagon officials said the shooting began at about 1:30 p.m. Central time. A graduation ceremony honoring soldiers who had obtained degrees from extension schools was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at a base theater not far from the readiness center.

Officials at the Pentagon said the wounded were taken to Darnell Army Hospital for treatment.

NBC affiliate KCEN in Waco reported that the second suspect may be holed up in a building on the post. The base was reportedly on lockdown. Two nearby school districts were also being locked down.