Shooting Rampage, Fort Hood | featured news

An AWOL soldier accused of plotting an attack on Fort Hood with a bomb in backpack was defiant during his first court appearance on Friday, yelling out the name of the Army psychiatrist blamed in the 2009 deadly shooting rampage at the same Texas base....

Fort Hood shooting suspect Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had been in contact with numerous Muslim extremists -- some of whom are under federal investigation -- before last week's rampage, two U.S. officials told The Washington Times on Wednesday. Maj. Hasan made some of the contacts while visiting known jihadist chat rooms on the Internet, according to one of The Times' sources, a senior FBI official.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspect in last week's Fort Hood shooting rampage, is conscious and talking, according to the hospital where he is being treated.

The cousin of the man held in the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, says the Army major had wanted to leave the military because he felt disrespected over his religion.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, is in custody in the rampage that left 12 dead and 31 injured in Texas. In an act of violence that sent shock waves through the American military establishment and raised questions about base security, a man armed with two handguns allegedly opened fire Thursday afternoon on the grounds of Ft. Hood, the country's largest military base. Twelve people were killed and 31 others injured. The suspect, an Army psychologist, was shot and in custody.