A stunned nation battled to understand Friday why a Muslim army psychiatrist snapped, mowing down 13 people and wounding 30 others in a trail of bloodshed at a sprawling US military base.
Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a specialist in combat stress, was under guard and in stable condition on a ventilator after being shot and seriously wounded during Thursday's rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said.
But so far Hasan, who had been fighting orders to deploy to Afghanistan, has not spoken about his actions from his bed in a nearby civilian hospital.
"We're not going to speculate about motives," Colonel John Rossi, the deputy Fort Hood commander, told reporters here early Friday.
Witnesses apparently heard Hasan shout "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest) as he opened fire in a troop processing center on the base with a semiautomatic weapon and a handgun, the base commander said.
"There are first hand accounts here from soldiers here that are similar to that," Lieutenant General Bob Cone said.
Although "Allahu Akbar" is a Muslim prayer, it has come to be associated with Islamic militants as they carry out attacks or suicide bombings.
The shooting spree dealt a new blow to US forces already under severe strain from repeated combat tours during years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and plagued by a rise in suicides and depression.
The shooter was born in the United States to Palestinian parents who had moved from a small town near Jerusalem. Profile of the gunman.
But his cousin Nader Hasan, writing on behalf of the family as Hasan's parents are dead, said they were stunned by Thursday's events and stressed they all considered themselves Americans.
"Our family loves America. We are proud of our country, and saddened by today's tragedy," Nader Hasan said in the message posted on The Washington Post website.
He told The New York Times that his cousin was "mortified by the idea of having to deploy" to Iraq or Afghanistan.
"He wanted to do whatever he could within the rules to make sure he wouldn't go over," Nader Hasan said, adding his cousin had retained a lawyer and sought to get out of the army before the end of his contract.
Nidal Hasan's aunt, Noel Hasan, told The Washington Post that her nephew, who she described as a devout Muslim, had been subjected to harassment about his faith since the September 11, 2001 attacks and had repeatedly sought to be discharged.
A surveillance video aired by CNN showed the major wearing traditional Muslim garb at a convenience store on the base just hours before the shooting as he purchased breakfast. Related article: Shooter seen buying breakfast
Meanwhile, hundreds of mental health specialists and grief counselors fanned out across Fort Hood, the largest US army base, to help soldiers and their families cope with the tragedy, said Colonel Steven Braverman, commander of the base hospital and Hasan's supervisor.
Only quick action by soldiers and police at the base kept Hasan from reaching a nearby graduation ceremony attended by some 600 people.
The experienced psychiatrist, trained to help returning troops coping with post-traumatic stress, shot a female police officer who nonetheless managed to shoot him four times to end the carnage.
Most of the victims were military personnel and many were taken to local hospitals. Braverman said early Friday that half of those wounded underwent surgery, but that all were in stable condition. Twenty-eight remained in hospital Friday morning.
President Barack Obama, who had been kept informed as the rampage was tracked in the White House situation room, denounced the "horrific outburst of violence" and urged Americans to pray for those killed and wounded.
"It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas," he said. "It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on American soil."
Fort Hood, which houses tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, has shouldered some of the nation's biggest burdens, suffering the highest casualties in the war of any US military base. Facts about Fort Hood.
