Fort Hood gunman meticulously planned attack

‘I am the shooter,’ he tells court

FORT HOOD, Texas — Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan fired the last of 146 bullets in his assault on Fort Hood, then walked outside where he met two civilians who asked about the commotion and the laser-sighted pistol in his hand.

Hasan told one person not to worry. He assured the other it was just a training exercise. He let both live.

But moments earlier, dozens of uniformed soldiers received no quarter from Hasan, prosecutors said Tuesday as the Army psychiatrist’s long-delayed trial began in a Texas military courtroom.

Hasan made little effort to defend himself. Acting as his own attorney, he told the jury that he killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in the 2009 attack. “The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter,” he opened.

His only utterance of regret was an acknowledgement that he was among “imperfect Muslims trying to establish the perfect religion.”

“I apologize for any mistakes I made in this endeavor,” said Hasan, 42, who was paralyzed after being shot by officers responding to the attack. He spoke from a wheelchair.

Hasan planned the assault for months, prosecutor Col. Steve Henricks said, describing how Hasan stockpiled bullets and practiced at a shooting range. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.

The shooting happened about three weeks after Hasan learned he would be deploying to Afghanistan. Upon getting the orders, Hasan told a base doctor that, “They’ve got another thing coming if they think they are going to deploy me,” Henricks said.

On the day of the attack, Hasan sat among fellow soldiers preparing to go overseas. He tried to clear the area of civilians, even walking over to a civilian data clerk to tell her she was needed elsewhere.

“He then yelled ‘Allahu akbar!’ and opened fire on unarmed, unsuspecting and defenseless soldiers,” Henricks told the jury.

One soldier who was repeatedly shot testified that he played dead before realizing the gunman might notice he was sweating.

Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford was hit seven times — twice inside the building when he played dead, then five more times outside. He said he decided to flee because “dead men don’t sweat.”