UPDATED: Fort Hood Shooting Suspect’s Cousin Talks To FBI, Mortified By Attack

***5:35 p.m. Update November 6***

Fort Hood Shooting Suspect’s Cousin Talks To FBI, Mortified By Attack

WASHINGTON (AP) - The cousin of the suspected Fort Hood shooter says family members have met with the FBI and answered all their questions.

Nader Hasan of northern Virginia says his family will continue to cooperate with law enforcement. He says he has no idea why his cousin, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, allegedly opened fire at the Texas Army post.

Nader Hasan says his family is mortified, and his cousin’s reported actions do not reflect their beliefs or principles.

Hasan said his family is filled with grief for the victims and their families.

Authorities believe Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded dozens others during a shooting spree Thursday at Fort Hood.

——————-

***4:45 p.m. Update November 6***

AP Sources: 1 Fort Hood Rampage Gun Purchased Legally

WASHINGTON (AP) - Law enforcement officials say a 5.7-millimeter pistol used in the Fort Hood shooting rampage was purchased legally at a Texas gun store.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

Records indicate Hasan bought the FN 5.7 at store called “Guns Galore” in Killeen, Texas, well before the attack that left 13 people dead. The pistol has been dubbed a “cop killer” by those who have tried to stop its use.

The most powerful type of ammunition for the gun is available only to law enforcement and military personnel. Gun control advocates call it a “cop killer” weapon because that ammo can pierce bulletproof vests, and its use by Mexican drug cartels worries police.

——————-

***2:35 p.m. Update November 6***

Moment Of Silence Set Friday For Fort Hood Victims

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has declared a moment of silence for U.S. military forces worldwide as a show of respect for the Fort Hood victims.

The moment of silence is planned for 2:34 p.m. EST Friday - exactly 24 hours after the shooting in Texas. All U.S. forces worldwide are being asked to participate in the show of respect.

A spokesman says Gates has no immediate plans to travel to Fort Hood.

Army Chief of Staff George Casey and Army Secretary John McHugh arrived at the base Friday.

——————-

***2:20 p.m. Update November 6***

AP Sources: Investigators Seize Suspect’s Computer

WASHINGTON AP) - Federal authorities have seized the suspected Fort Hood shooter’s computer and are looking for clues that may have led to the military massacre on Thursday that left 13 people
dead and 30 wounded.

U.S. law enforcement official said that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s apartment in Killeen, Texas, was searched early Friday. It was not immediately known if FBI agents found anything suspicious
on Hasan’s computer files. A military official said investigators also are sifting through materials Hasan carried with him during the shooting incident and evidence left in his vehicle, which was
found parked at the base.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

——————-

***2:00 p.m. Update November 6***

Neighbor: Fort Hood Suspect Emptied His Apartment

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - A neighbor says an Army psychiatrist suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas cleaned out his apartment in the days before the rampage.

Neighbor Patricia Villa (VEE’-uh) says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan came over to her apartment on Wednesday morning and told her he was going to be deployed on Friday.

She says he gave her some frozen broccoli, some spinach, T-shirts, shelves and a new Quran, the Muslim holy book. She says he returned on Thursday morning and gave her his air mattress,
several briefcases and a desk lamp.

Villa says Hasan then offered her $60 to clean his apartment Friday morning after he supposedly was to leave.

Authorities say Hasan on Thursday went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead.

——————-

***1:15 p.m. Update November 6***

Troubling Portrait Emerges Of Fort Hood Suspect

WASHINGTON (AP) - His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a
medical student because of problems with patients.

There are many unknowns about Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base. Most of all, his motive.

For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in July, the 39-year-old Army major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center pursuing his career in psychiatry, as an intern, a
resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. He received his medical degree from the military’s Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda,
Md., in 2001.

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.

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide
bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on
condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Hasan’s aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Va., said he had been harassed about being a Muslim in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and he
wanted out of the Army.

“Some people can take it and some people cannot,“ she said. “He had listened to all of that and he wanted out of the military.“

She said he had sought a discharge from the military for several years, and even offered to repay the cost of his medical training.

A military official told The Associated Press that Hasan was in the preparation stage of deployment, which can take months. The official said Hasan had indicated he didn’t want to go to Iraq but
was willing to serve in Afghanistan. The official did not have authorization to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A second military official said Hasan’s family has Palestinian roots. There have been reports that he was harassed for his Muslim religion, but the official says there is no indication Hasan filed
a complaint within the military about that.

Terrorism task force agents plan to interview several of Hasan’s relatives Friday, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to
discuss the case.

Noel Hasan said her nephew “did not make many friends” and would say “they military was his life.“

A cousin, Nader Hasan, told The New York Times that after counseling soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder, Hasan knew war firsthand.

“He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy,“ Nader Hasan said. “He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there.“

Federal law-enforcement agents ordered an evacuation of the apartment complex where Hasan lived in Killeen, Texas, Thursday night and conducted a search of his home, said Hilary Shine,
director of public information for the city. She didn’t say what was found during the search.

Officials said earlier that federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorize the seizure of his computer.

Retired Army Col. Terry Lee, who said he worked with Hasan, told Fox News that Hasan had hoped President Barack Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Lee said Hasan got into
frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars, and had tried hard to prevent his pending deployment.

Col. Kimberly Kesling, deputy commander of clinical services at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, said she had known Hasan.

“You wouldn’t think that someone who works in your facility and provided excellent care for his patients, which he did, could do something like this,“ Kesling said. She praised his work ethic,
saying, “In my personal interactions, there was never any indication he would do something like this.“ Kesling described him as “a quiet man who wouldn’t seek the limelight” and sais she was
‘shocked’ when she heard that he was the man suspected of carrying out the shootings.

Hasan attended prayers regularly when he lived outside Washington, often in his Army uniform, said Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque Hasan attended in Silver Spring, Md. He said Hasan
was a lifelong Muslim.

“I got the impression that he was a committed soldier,“ Khan said. He spoke often with Hasan about Hasan’s desire for a wife.

On a form filled out by those seeking spouses through a program at the mosque, Hasan listed his birthplace as Arlington, Va., but his nationality as Palestinian, Khan said.

“I don’t know why he listed Palestinian,“ Khan said, “He was not born in Palestine.“

Nothing stood out about Hasan as radical or extremist, Khan said.

“We hardly ever got to discussing politics,“ Khan said. “Mostly we were discussing religious matters, nothing too controversial, nothing like an extremist.“

Hasan earned his rank of major in April 2008, according to a July 2008 Army Times article.

He served eight years as an enlisted soldier. He also served in the ROTC as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry there in 1997.

——————-

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - A military official says one more person has died after being injured during a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas.

Post spokesman Tyler Broadway said early Friday that the toll now stands at 13 dead and 30 wounded. Late Thursday, officials said 12 people had been killed and 31 wounded in the afternoon attack.

The victims’ identities haven’t been released.

The suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was on a ventilator and unconscious in a hospital late Thursday. The Army psychiatrist was shot four times after the rampage began around 1:30 p.m.

The motive for the shootings isn’t clear, but Hasan was apparently set to deploy soon. He also had expressed some anger about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.