FORT HOOD — A U.S. Army psychiatrist facing deployment to one of America's war zones killed 13 people and wounded 31 others Thursday in a shooting rampage with two handguns at the sprawling Fort Hood Army post in Central Texas. It was one of the worst mass shootings ever at a military base in the United States.

The gunman, who was still alive after being shot four times, was identified by law enforcement authorities as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, who had been in the service since 1995.

COMMENT ON THIS STORY COMMENTING: Do you have friends or relatives stationed at Fort Hood? What should be done to increase security at U.S. military bases in the wake of the shootings? Rodolfo Gonzalez/Cox News Service Photo (ENLARGE) Daniel Clark comforts his wife, Rachel Clark, on Thursday outside the main gate of Fort Hood near Killeen. The Clarks' daughter, Madeline, 5, was in an elementary school on the post. The base was locked down after a gunman went on a rampage, killing 12 people.

Hasan was about to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

Clad in a military uniform and firing an automatic pistol and another weapon, Hasan sprayed bullets inside a crowded medical processing center for soldiers returning from or about to be sent overseas.

The victims, nearly all military personnel but including two civilians, were cut down in clusters. Witnesses told military investigators that medics working at the center tore open the clothing of the dead and wounded to get at the wounds and administer first aid.

As the shooting unfolded, military police and civilian officers of the Department of the Army responded and returned the gunman's fire. Hasan was shot by a first-responder, who was herself wounded in the exchange.

In the confusion of a day of wild and misleading reports, the major and the officer who shot him were reported killed in the gun battle, but both reports were erroneous.

Motives

Eight hours after the shootings, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, a base spokesmen, said Hasan, whom he described as the sole gunman, had been shot four times, but was hospitalized in stable condition and was not in imminent danger of dying.

Hasan was not speaking to investigators, and his motives were unknown.

Cone said terrorism was not being ruled out, but preliminary evidence did not suggest the rampage had been an act of terrorism. Fox News quoted a retired Army colonel, Terry Lee, as saying that Hasan, with whom he worked, had voiced hope that President Barack Obama would pull U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, had argued with military colleagues who supported the wars and had tried to prevent his own deployment.

As a parade of ambulances wailed to the scene of the shootings, officials said the extent of injuries to the wounded varied significantly, with some in critical condition and others slightly wounded.

As a widespread investigation by the military, the FBI and other agencies began, much about the assault in Texas remained unclear. Department of Homeland Security officials said the Army would take the lead in the investigation.

President Barack Obama called the shootings "a horrific outburst of violence" and urged Americans to pray for those who were killed and wounded.

"It is difficult enough when we lose these men and women in battles overseas," Obama said. "It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."

The president pledged "to get answers to every single question about this horrible incident."

Military records indicated Hasan was unmarried, had been born in Virginia, had never served abroad and listed "no religious preference" on his personnel records but was Muslim. He opened fire on soldiers obtaining medical clearance before and after their deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Three other soldiers, their roles unclear, were taken into custody in connection with the shootings. The office of Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said they were later released, but a Fort Hood spokesman could not confirm that.

Fort Hood, near Killeen, is the largest active duty military post in the United States. It has been a major center for troops being deployed to or returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The base went into lockdown shortly after the shootings. Gates were closed and barriers put up at all entrance and exit checkpoints, and the military police turned away all but essential personnel. Schools on the base were closed, playgrounds were deserted and sidewalks were empty. Sirens wailed across the base through the afternoon, a warning to military personnel and their families to remain indoors.

Military commanders were instructed to account for all personnel on the base.

"The immediate concern is to make sure that all of our soldiers and family members are safe, and that's what commanders have been instructed to do," said Jay Adams of the 1st Army, Division West, at Ford Hood.

Cone said the shooting took place about 1:30 p.m., inside what he called a Soldier Readiness Processing Center.

Both of the handguns used by Hasan were recovered at the scene. The weapons he used were described as "civilian" handguns. Security experts said the fact that two handguns were used suggested premeditation, as opposed to a spontaneous act. Moreover, they noted, it took a lot of ammunition to shoot 43 people, another indication of premeditation.

All the victims were gunned down "in the same area," Cone said.

As the shootings ended, scores of emergency vehicles rushed to the scene, which is in the center of the fort, and dozens of ambulances carried the shooting victims to hospitals in the region.

It appeared certain the shootings would generate a whole new look at questions of security on military posts of all the armed forces in the United States. Expressions of dismay were voiced by public officials across the country.

'Hearts go out'

Hutchison was one of them. "Our hearts go out," she said. "These are soldiers who are ready to go out to Iraq or Afghanistan and their families were under stress already. This was just a terrible tragedy, and we don't even know the extent of it yet."

The Muslim Public Affairs Council, speaking for much of the Muslim community in the United States, condemned the shootings as a "heinous incident" and said, "We share the sentiment of our president."

The council added, "Our entire organization extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed as well as those wounded and their loved ones."

Cone said Fort Hood was "absolutely devastated."

News of the shooting set off panic among families and friends of the base personnel. Alyssa Marie Seace's husband, Pfc. Ray Seace Jr., sent her a text message just before 2 p.m. saying that someone had "shot up the SRP building," referring to the Soldier Readiness Processing Center. He told her he was "hiding."

Alyssa Seace, 18, who lives about five minutes from the base and had not been watching the news, reacted with alarm. She texted him back but got no response. She called her father in Connecticut, who told her not to call him because it might reveal his hiding place.

Finally, her husband, a mechanic who is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in February, texted back about 45 minutes later to say that three people from his unit had been hit and a dozen people in all were dead.

Aftermath

By late afternoon, the sirens at Fort Hood had fallen silent. In Killeen, state troopers were parked on ridges overlooking the two main highways through town. In residential areas, the only signs of life were cars moving through the streets. In the business districts, where signs on nearly every fast-food restaurant welcome the troops home, people went about their business.

In 1991, Killeen was the scene of one of the worst mass killings in American history. It took place as a crazed gunman drove his pickup truck through the window of a cafeteria, fatally shot 22 people with a handgun, then killed himself.

Fort Hood, opened in September 1942 as America geared up for World War II, was named for Gen. John Bell Hood of the Confederacy. It has been used continuously for armor training and is charged with maintaining readiness for combat missions.

It is a place that feels, on ordinary days, like one of the safest in the world, surrounded by those who protect the nation with their lives. It is home to nine schools — seven elementary schools and two middle schools, for the children of personnel. But on Thursday, the streets were lined with emergency vehicles, their lights flashing and sirens piercing the air as Texas Rangers and state troopers took up posts at the gates to seal the base.

Shortly after 7 p.m., the sirens sounded again and over the loudspeakers a woman's voice that could be heard all over the base announced in a clipped military fashion: "Declared emergency no longer exists."

The gates reopened, and a stream of cars and trucks that had been bottled up for hours began to move out.

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About Fort Hood

- Only post in the United States capable of supporting two full armored divisions.

- Covers 340 square miles.

- There are more than 5,000 sets of quarters for enlisted soldiers and their families, and an additional 634 quarters are set aside for officers and their family members.

- The overall post population is estimated at about 71,000 people; almost 42,000 of those are soldiers.

Source: www.globalsecurity.org

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The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — He prayed every day at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Md., a devout Muslim who, despite asking to be discharged from the U.S. Army, according to his aunt, was on the eve of his first deployment to war. Thursday, authorities said Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, a 39-year-old Arlington, Va.-born psychiatrist, shot and killed 12 people at Fort Hood.

In an interview, his aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Va., said he had endured name-calling and harassment about his Muslim faith for years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and had sought for several years to be discharged from the military.

"I know what that is like; I have experienced it myself while working as a bank executive," she said. "Some people can take it, and some cannot. He had listened to all of that, and he wanted out of the military, and they would not let him leave even after he offered to repay" for his medical training.

An Army spokesman, George Wright, said he could not confirm the report of any request to be discharged.

As authorities scrambled to figure out what happened at Fort Hood, a hazy and contradictory picture emerged of a man who received all of his medical training from the military and spent all of his career in the Army, yet turned so violently against his own. Hasan spent much of his professional career at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., caring for the victims of trauma, yet he spoke openly of his deep opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He steered clear of female colleagues and, despite devout religious practices, listed himself in Army records as having no religious preference, co-workers said.

Hasan, who was shot while being taken into custody, was reported in stable condition at a hospital Thursday night, authorities said.

Hasan is a 1997 graduate of Virginia Tech who went on to get a doctorate in psychiatry from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. From 2003 through this past summer, he was an intern, resident and then fellow at Walter Reed, where he worked as a liaison between wounded soldiers and the hospital's psychiatry staff. He was also a fellow at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Bethesda military medical school.

He himself had been affected by the physical and mental injuries he saw while working as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed for nearly eight years, according to his aunt. "Some people can take that, and some can't," Noel Hasan said. "He must have snapped. They ignored him. It was not hard to know when he was upset. He was not a fighter, even as a child and young man. But when he became upset, his face turns red. You can read him in his face."

Hasan "did not make many friends" and "did not make friends fast," his aunt said. He had no girlfriend and was not married. "He would tell us the military was his life," she said.

The psychiatrist once said that "Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor" and that the United States shouldn't be fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place, according to an interview with Col. Terry Lee, a former colleague, on Fox News.

At the Muslim Community Center, Hasan stood out because he would sometimes show up in Army fatigues, said Faizul Khan, the former imam there.

"He came to mosque one or two times to see if there were any suitable girls to marry," Khan said. "I don't think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions. He wanted a girl who was very religious, prays five times a day, which is all very good."

In search of a partner in marriage, Hasan wrote in an application filed with a local Muslim matching service that "I am quiet and reserved until more familiar with person. Funny, caring and personable."

"He was a very quiet and private person. I can't say that people knew him very well other than attending prayers," said Arshad Qureshi, chairman of the board of trustees at the Muslim Community Center of Silver Spring. "You didn't see him attend anything — school for children or celebrations. He did not go out of the way to engage people. We have thousands of people who come through to pray; he was just one of them."

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Mass shootings in recent years

Here is a glance at some of the worst U.S. mass shootings:

Thursday: The Army says 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas. Army officials initially said the suspected gunman was among the dead, but later said he survived and was hospitalized.

April 3: A 41-year-old man opened fire at an immigrant community center in Binghamton, N.Y., killing 11 immigrants and two workers. Jiverly Wong, a Vietnamese immigrant and a former student at the center, killed himself as police rushed to the scene.

March 10: Michael McLendon, 28, killed 10 people, including his mother, four other relatives and the wife and child of a local sheriff's deputy, across two rural Alabama counties. He then committed suicide.

Feb. 14, 2008: Former student Steven Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, fatally shooting five students and wounding 18 others before committing suicide.

Dec. 5, 2007: 19-year-old Robert A. Hawkins opened fire with a rifle in Omaha, Neb., at a Von Maur store in the Westroads Mall, killing eight people before taking his own life. Five more people were wounded, two critically.

April 16, 2007: Cho Seung-Hui, 23, fatally shot 32 people in a dorm and a classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, then killed himself in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Feb. 12, 2007: 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic killed five and wounded four at the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was then shot and killed by police.

Oct. 2, 2006: Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, shot to death five girls at West Nickel Mines Amish School in Pennsylvania, then killed himself.

March 21, 2005: 16-year-old student Jeffrey Weise killed nine people, including his grandfather and his grandfather's companion at home, and then five fellow students, a teacher and a security guard at Red Lake High School in Red Lake, Minnesota, before killing himself. Seven students were wounded.

March 12, 2005: Terry Ratzmann, 44, gunned down members of his congregation as they worshipped at the Brookfield Sheraton in Brookfield, Wisc., slaying seven and wounding four before killing himself.

July 29, 1999: Former day trader Mark Barton, 44, killed nine people in shootings at two Atlanta, Ga., brokerage offices, then committed suicide.

April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before committing suicide in the school's library.

March 24, 1998: Andrew Golden, 11, and Mitchell Johnson, 13, killed four girls and a teacher at a Jonesboro, Ark., middle school. Ten others were wounded in the shooting.

Oct. 16, 1991: George Hennard, 35, smashed his pickup through a Luby's Cafeteria window in Killeen and fired on the lunchtime crowd with a high-powered pistol, killing 22 people. At least 20 others were wounded.

- Associated Press