Fort Hood gunman 'acted alone'

Reuters

FORT HOOD: Major Nidal Hasan, the US Army doctor identified as a suspect in the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

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Investigators examining last week's massacre at the military base at Fort Hood, Texas, have concluded that army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan acted alone when he gunned down his colleagues.

They have tentatively concluded that his actions, which led to the deaths of 13 people and wounding of 29 others, were not part of a terrorist plot.

The military announced initial conclusions as the 60,000-strong army population at Fort Hood prepared for an emotional few days, beginning with church services yesterday and a memorial service tomorrow that will be attended by the President and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama.

Their predecessors, George and Laura Bush, who live in Texas, paid a private visit to the wounded on Saturday, passing in and out of the base without being noticed by the media.

In a briefing at the base on Saturday night, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Division, Chris Grey, said: ''All evidence collected so far indicates that the suspect acted alone in the actual shootings at the readiness centre. We have no evidence so far that contradicts that finding.''

He said investigators had not yet established a motive for the shootings, but The New York Times reported they had tentatively concluded that this was not part of a terrorist plot.

Citing federal officials briefed on the inquiry, the Times said investigators had come to believe that Major Hasan acted under a welter of emotional, ideological and religious pressures.

They have not ruled out the possibility that he believed he was carrying out an extremist's suicide mission but, working with behavioural experts, they think it is more likely he may have long suffered from emotional problems that were exacerbated by the tensions of his work with veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who returned home with serious psychiatric problems.

A Fort Hood spokesman, Colonel John Rossi, confirmed that Major Hasan was due to be deployed to Afghanistan late this month.

Colonel Rossi was asked whether the wounded included five members of the mental health team where Major Hasan worked, which would point to the conclusion that he was acting out against pressures in his workplace. He confirmed that there were several combat stress team members - the area where Major Hasan worked - among the casualties.

Investigators have Major Hasan's computer and have interviewed members of his family, which has helped come to this early theory.

There have been numerous reports from colleagues, though not from the army officials, that the psychiatrist had been showing increasing signs of erratic behaviour.

It is not clear whether investigators have been able to talk to Major Hasan, who survived being hit with five bullets, and is in intensive care. Colonel Rossi said he was no longer on a ventilator, but dodged questions about whether he was conscious or able to speak.

The site is still secured. Investigators have conducted 170 witness and victim interviews and are still working to account for every shot fired. However, Colonel Rossi said they had ruled out any friendly fire being responsible for deaths.

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