2009 Fort Hood shooting

Not to be confused with 2014 Fort Hood shootings.
2009 Fort Hood shooting
Part of Opposition to the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
First responders prepare the wounded for transport in waiting ambulances near Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Processing Center.
Location of the main cantonment of Fort Hood in Bell County
LocationFort Hood, Texas, U.S.
Coordinates31°8′33″N 97°47′47″W / 31.14250°N 97.79639°W / 31.14250; -97.79639
DateNovember 5, 2009; 14 years ago (2009-11-05)
c. 1:34 – c. 1:44 p.m. (CST)
TargetU.S. Army soldiers and civilians
Attack type
Mass shooting, mass murder, domestic terrorism
Weapons
Deaths14[a]
Injured33 (including the perpetrator)
PerpetratorNidal Hasan
MotiveIslamic extremism
Opposition to military deployment
VerdictGuilty on all counts
SentenceDeath
ConvictionsPremeditated murder (13 counts)
Attempted murder (32 counts)

On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos), near Killeen, Texas.[1] Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others.[2][3] It was the deadliest mass shooting on an American military base and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since the September 11 attacks until it was surpassed by the San Bernardino attack in 2015.[4]

Hasan was shot and as a result paralyzed from the waist down.[5] He was arraigned by a military court on July 20, 2011 and was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. His court-martial began on August 7, 2013. Due to the nature of the charges (more than one premeditated, or first-degree, murder case, in a single crime), Hasan faced either the death penalty or life in prison without parole upon conviction.[6][7] Hasan was found guilty on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder on August 23, 2013, and was sentenced to death on August 28, 2013.[8]

Days after the shooting, reports in the media revealed that a Joint Terrorism Task Force had been aware of a series of e-mails between Hasan and the Yemen-based Imam Anwar al-Awlaki, who had been monitored by the NSA as a security threat, and that Hasan's colleagues had been aware of his increasing Islamic radicalization for several years. The failure to prevent the shooting led the Defense Department and the FBI to commission investigations, and Congress to hold hearings.

The U.S. government declined requests from survivors and family members of the slain to categorize the Fort Hood shooting as an act of terrorism, or motivated by militant Islamic religious convictions.[9] In November 2011, a group of survivors and family members filed a lawsuit against the government for negligence in preventing the attack, and to force the government to classify the shooting as terrorism. The Pentagon argued that charging Hasan with terrorism was not possible within the military justice system and that such action could harm the military prosecutors' ability to sustain a guilty verdict against Hasan.[10]


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  1. ^ "Soldier Opens Fire at Ft. Hood; 13 Dead". CBS News. November 5, 2009. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
  2. ^ Rubin, Josh (August 6, 2013). "'I am the shooter,' Nidal Hasan tells Fort Hood court-martial". CNN. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stripes 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Army reprimands 9 officers in Fort Hood shooting". USA Today. March 11, 2011. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  5. ^ Austin American-Statesman, November 7, 2009
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN 5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference MSNBC 3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Kenber, Billy (August 28, 2013). "Nidal Hasan sentenced to death for Fort Hood shooting rampage". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 28, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference benghazi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Terror act or workplace violence? Hasan trial raises sensitive issue", AP, 2013, archived from the original on September 17, 2013, retrieved August 11, 2013