Thursday, November 05, 2009
Suspected Fort Hood, Texas shooter was Vinton resident, Virginia Tech grad
Virginia-born Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan lived in Vinton and is a graduate of Virginia Tech, where he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry.
Posted: 3:52 p.m. | Updated: 12:56 a.m.
Editor's note: This online version has been updated to reflect new information from Army officials that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was not killed in the shooting, but instead injured by gunfire.
The gunman that allegedly opened fire at a U.S. Army base at one point lived in Vinton and graduated from Virginia Tech, according to Roanoke Times archives.
The suspect has been identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, according to Army Lt. Gen. Bob Cone.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is the son of Palestinian immigrants and Vinton residents Malik Awadallah Hassan and Hanan Ismail "Nora" Hasan. Nora Hasan ran the now defunct Capitol Restaurant on the Roanoke Market. Hasan's father owned the Mount Olive Grill and Bar and the Community Grocery Store on Elm Avenue. Both parents are deceased.
Nidal M. Hasan graduated from Virginia Tech in biochemistry in 1995, according to Roanoke Times archives.
Shabo Karkenny bought the Elm Avenue Community Grocery Store property from the family of Nidal A. Hasan and his brothers in 2006, according to Roanoke Times archives. Karkenny said he met Hasan once, when he came into the store earlier this year and the two chatted briefly. Karkenny said he was surprised to see the same man's picture on the news this evening, identified as the suspect in the shooting.
He is a graduate of Virginia Tech, where he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1995. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
The Garlick family lives across the street from where the Hasan's lived on Ramada Road in Vinton.
Zachary Garlick, 21, said that he'd often played football with Hasan's brother, who went by "Eddie." But Nidal Malik Hasan, who went by "Michael," didn't come out to play. The Garlick family described him as studious.
"Michael was more school and less play," said Zachary Garlick. "He'd get home and he'd have his bookbag, and he go straight inside."
The Garlicks said that Hasan attended Virginia Western Community College before transferring to Virginia Tech.
The Hasan family left the house in the 600 block of Ramada in 1998 after Hasan's father died of a heart attack, the Garlicks said. "Mr. Hasan, he was the backbone of the family," said Sonja Garlick.
The Hasans told neighbors that they were moving back to Palestine.
Military officials said Hasan was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to the Texas base in July.
The officials had access to Hasan's military record. They said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because military records are confidential.
The Virginia-born soldier is single with no children.
The shooting in Texas began around 1:30 p.m. CT, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said at a news conference. He said all the casualties took place at the base's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening.
"It's a terrible tragedy. It's stunning," Cone said.
Cone said the soldier used two handguns in the attack. It was not clear if Hasan had stopped to reload.
The rampage killed 12 people and left 31 wounded. Authorities at one time announced that they had killed Hasan, but later told reporters he was among the injured. The violence was believed to be the worst mass shooting in history at a U.S. military base.
A graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college courses while deployed was going on in an auditorium at the Readiness Center at the time of the shooting, said Sgt. Rebekah Lampam, a Fort Hood spokeswoman.
Greg Schanepp, U.S. Rep. John Carter's regional director in Texas, was representing Carter at the graduation, said John Stone, a spokesman for Carter, whose district includes the Army post.
Schanepp was at the ceremony when a soldier who had been shot in the back came running toward him and alerted him of the shooting, Stone said. The soldier told Schanepp not to go in the direction of the shooter, he said. Stone said he believes Schanepp was in the theater.
The base was locked down after the shootings. The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas, Cone said.
Around the country, some bases stepped up security precautions, but no others were locked down.
In Washington, President Barack Obama called the shooting "a horrific outburst of violence." He said it's a tragedy to lose a soldier overseas and even more horrifying when they come under fire at an Army base on American soil.
Covering 339 square miles, Fort Hood is the largest active duty armored post in the United States. Home to about 52,000 troops as of earlier this year, the sprawling base is located halfway between Austin and Waco.
While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.
Grieger said privacy laws prevented him from going into details but noted that the problems had to do with Hasan's interactions with patients. He recalled Hasan as a "mostly very quiet" person who never spoke ill of the military or his country.
"He swore an oath of loyalty to the military," Grieger said. "I didn't hear anything contrary to those oaths."
But, more recently, federal agents grew suspicious.
Federal law enforcement officials say Hasan had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.
The officials say the postings appeared to have been made by Hasan. The officials say they are still trying to confirm that he was the author. They say an official investigation was not opened.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades.
"To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause," said the Internet posting. "Scholars have paralled (sic) this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers."
Editor's note: This online version has been updated to reflect new information from Army officials that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was not killed in the shooting, but instead injured by gunfire.
The gunman that allegedly opened fire at a U.S. Army base at one point lived in Vinton and graduated from Virginia Tech, according to Roanoke Times archives.
The suspect has been identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, according to Army Lt. Gen. Bob Cone.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is the son of Palestinian immigrants and Vinton residents Malik Awadallah Hassan and Hanan Ismail "Nora" Hasan. Nora Hasan ran the now defunct Capitol Restaurant on the Roanoke Market. Hasan's father owned the Mount Olive Grill and Bar and the Community Grocery Store on Elm Avenue. Both parents are deceased.
Nidal M. Hasan graduated from Virginia Tech in biochemistry in 1995, according to Roanoke Times archives.
Shabo Karkenny bought the Elm Avenue Community Grocery Store property from the family of Nidal A. Hasan and his brothers in 2006, according to Roanoke Times archives. Karkenny said he met Hasan once, when he came into the store earlier this year and the two chatted briefly. Karkenny said he was surprised to see the same man's picture on the news this evening, identified as the suspect in the shooting.
He is a graduate of Virginia Tech, where he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1995. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001. At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
Nidal M. Hasan
Zachary Garlick, 21, said that he'd often played football with Hasan's brother, who went by "Eddie." But Nidal Malik Hasan, who went by "Michael," didn't come out to play. The Garlick family described him as studious.
"Michael was more school and less play," said Zachary Garlick. "He'd get home and he'd have his bookbag, and he go straight inside."
The Garlicks said that Hasan attended Virginia Western Community College before transferring to Virginia Tech.
The Hasan family left the house in the 600 block of Ramada in 1998 after Hasan's father died of a heart attack, the Garlicks said. "Mr. Hasan, he was the backbone of the family," said Sonja Garlick.
Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times
Neighbors identified this house as the former home of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan on the 600 block of Ramada Road in Vinton Thursday night. Hasan's family moved from this house in 1998. The former Vinton resident and Virginia Tech graduate allegedly opened fire at Fort Hood.
Military officials said Hasan was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to the Texas base in July.
The officials had access to Hasan's military record. They said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because military records are confidential.
The Virginia-born soldier is single with no children.
The shooting in Texas began around 1:30 p.m. CT, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said at a news conference. He said all the casualties took place at the base's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening.
"It's a terrible tragedy. It's stunning," Cone said.
Cone said the soldier used two handguns in the attack. It was not clear if Hasan had stopped to reload.
The rampage killed 12 people and left 31 wounded. Authorities at one time announced that they had killed Hasan, but later told reporters he was among the injured. The violence was believed to be the worst mass shooting in history at a U.S. military base.
A graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college courses while deployed was going on in an auditorium at the Readiness Center at the time of the shooting, said Sgt. Rebekah Lampam, a Fort Hood spokeswoman.
Greg Schanepp, U.S. Rep. John Carter's regional director in Texas, was representing Carter at the graduation, said John Stone, a spokesman for Carter, whose district includes the Army post.
Schanepp was at the ceremony when a soldier who had been shot in the back came running toward him and alerted him of the shooting, Stone said. The soldier told Schanepp not to go in the direction of the shooter, he said. Stone said he believes Schanepp was in the theater.
The base was locked down after the shootings. The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas, Cone said.
Around the country, some bases stepped up security precautions, but no others were locked down.
In Washington, President Barack Obama called the shooting "a horrific outburst of violence." He said it's a tragedy to lose a soldier overseas and even more horrifying when they come under fire at an Army base on American soil.
Covering 339 square miles, Fort Hood is the largest active duty armored post in the United States. Home to about 52,000 troops as of earlier this year, the sprawling base is located halfway between Austin and Waco.
While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.
Grieger said privacy laws prevented him from going into details but noted that the problems had to do with Hasan's interactions with patients. He recalled Hasan as a "mostly very quiet" person who never spoke ill of the military or his country.
"He swore an oath of loyalty to the military," Grieger said. "I didn't hear anything contrary to those oaths."
But, more recently, federal agents grew suspicious.
Federal law enforcement officials say Hasan had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.
The officials say the postings appeared to have been made by Hasan. The officials say they are still trying to confirm that he was the author. They say an official investigation was not opened.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades.
"To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause," said the Internet posting. "Scholars have paralled (sic) this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers."
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