Shooting at Ft. Hood Texas 11/05/09 13 dead, 43 wounded-(Murder Charges)

[Txsflame]

I just again want to thank Heart. My computer is being a butt today.

 I also want to add. I have the names of 11 of the 13  confirmed dead, and will update that as soon as computer quits being stupid.. BUT I also want to add The pregnant officers baby also died.. so the TOTAL is 14. I can not and will not disreguard that babies life. Her family has stated she was there to get out of the army, that baby was real to her, and SHOULD be counted among the dead!

 TY very much. I just think it IS very important that babies life be counted!!

I've changed the subject line in the first post to reflect the additional death, to 14 dead, 38 wounded.  Please note:  I CAN"T change all of the subject headers of each post in the thread.  I'm sorry, but it won't allow me to do that.  I can change only the subject line in the first post. 

Note:  I misread a post or two.  I thought the count was 14.  In the future, please provide a link that includes any changes.  That's the best way to do it, to avoid confusion and for accuracy.  Muffy

[Heart]

This family photo provided by Keely Vanacker shows her father
Michael Grant Cahill with his grandson Brody.

Fort Hood victim was heart attack survivor



Story Published: Nov 7, 2009 at 10:00 AM PST

Story Updated: Nov 7, 2009 at 10:00 AM PST
By Associated Press
FORT HOOD, Texas - A Spokane native who was shot to death by a gunman Thursday at Fort Hood had just survived a heart attack only two weeks before, family members said.

Michael Grant Cahill, a 62-year-old physician assistant, suffered a heart attack two weeks ago and returned to work at the base as a civilian employee after taking just one week off for recovery, said his daughter Keely Vanacker.

"He survived that. He was getting back on track, and he gets killed by a gunman," Vanacker said, her words bare with shock and disbelief.

Cahill was one of 13 people killed when Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at the Texas Army post, authorities said. Thirty-one people also were injured in the worst mass shooting ever at a military base in the United States.

Cahill, who most recently resided in Cameron, Texas, helped treat soldiers returning from tours of duty or preparing for deployment.

Often, Vanacker said, Cahill would walk young soldiers where they needed to go, just to make sure they got the right treatment.

"He loved his patients, and his patients loved him," said Vanacker, 33, the oldest of Cahill's three adult children. "He just felt his job was important."

Cahill, who was born in Spokane, had worked as a civilian contractor at Fort Hood for about four years, after jobs in rural health clinics and at Veterans Affairs hospitals. He and his wife, Joleen, had been married 37 years.

Vanacker described her father as a gregarious man and a voracious reader who could talk for hours about any subject.

The family's typical Thanksgiving dinners ended with board games and long conversations over the table, said Vanacker, whose voice often cracked with emotion as she remembered her father. "Now, who I am going to talk to?"

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/69464787.html

[Heart]

Evans soldier killed in Fort Hood massacre

By Christine O’Donnell codonnell@nbcaugusta.com

Story Published: Nov 7, 2009 at 1:54 PM EST
Story Updated: Nov 7, 2009 at 4:04 PM EST

EVANS, Ga. – One of the soldiers killed in the Fort Hood massacre lived in Evans, according to a spokeswoman for Fort Gordon.

Army Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow, 32, died in Thursday's shooting.

DeCrow’s wife, Marikay DeCrow, told CNN her husband “was a loving husband and father and we’re going to miss him.”

The couple has a 13-year-old daughter.

DeCrow went to Fort Hood in September to prepare for his deployment to Iraq, which was scheduled for sometime between December and March, his wife told CNN.

Justin DeCrow was from Plymouth, Indiana.

He had just come back from a tour in South Korea where he worked in satellite communications, his wife added.

Daniel DeCrow, Justin's father, told CNN affiliate and WAGT's sister station, WSBT in South Bend, Indiana, that his son joined the Army after finishing high school in Plymouth.

He last spoke to his son last week, WSBT reported.

"As usual, the last words out of my mouth to him were that I was proud of him," Daniel DeCrow said, according to WSBT's Web site. "That's what I said to him every time -- that I loved him and I was proud of what he was doing. I can carry that around in my heart."

Thirteen people died after a shooting spree Thursday at Fort Hood, a Army base in Texas.

(CNN & WSBT contributed to this story)
http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/georgia/69466582.html

[Txsflame]

I just again want to thank Heart. My computer is being a butt today.

 I also want to add. I have the names of 11 of the 13  confirmed dead, and will update that as soon as computer quits being stupid.. BUT I also want to add The pregnant officers baby also died.. so the TOTAL is 14. I can not and will not disreguard that babies life. Her family has stated she was there to get out of the army, that baby was real to her, and SHOULD be counted among the dead!

 TY very much. I just think it IS very important that babies life be counted!!

I've changed the subject line in the first post to reflect the additional death, to 14 dead, 38 wounded.  Please note:  I CAN"T change all of the subject headers of each post in the thread.  I'm sorry, but it won't allow me to do that.  I can change only the subject line in the first post. 

THANK you(since I screwed up my roiginal TY) I swear I wasnt directing this to this thread..you all have been great. I was referring to the whole WORLD needing to acknowldge this baby.. My daughter is of child bearing age, and had it been her and her baby there, I would be scremaing to the world that my child and grandchild was lost(and I am also NOT speaking against FV family) I can only imagine their pain and shock.. I am just MAD so freaking MAD!!!! I am tired of the murderer getting the attention..(in the media) I just widh none of this happened..

 I so apprecaite having this board as a place to vent..and yes I have told every news outlet that I could comment on exactly how I feel(in a respectful way) I also KNOW this sint a time to be blaming each other, as we are all trying to cope the best we can!! 

 I hope to soon be able to get back to helping with the updating and stories of the victim, but right now apparently SM forum doesnt like me is taking forever to LOAD!!!

[Heart]

Victims make progress; probe continues

Fort Hood, Texas (CNN)  -- As investigators at Fort Hood meticulously probed Thursday's grisly massacre, a Texas surgeon said more of the wounded victims of the shootings were slowly but surely on the mend.

Flanked by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and two state representatives, W. Roy Smythe, chief of surgery at Scott & White Memorial Hospital, said "a lot of progress has been made" in treating patients wounded in the rampage and that "some of them are out of the woods."

But Smythe told reporters in a Saturday news conference there is a possibility some patients will be "physically impaired" for life. And, he said, there's "no doubt many" will be "psychologically impaired the rest of their lives."

Thursday's mass shooting left 12 soldiers and one civilian dead and 38 others injured at the Fort Hood Army Post in Texas. Thirty-four of the injured had gunshot wounds, military officials said. The suspect in the shooting, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a licensed Army psychiatrist, was among the two dozen who remained hospitalized Friday night.
Video: Medic treated cop and suspect
Video: Eyewitness speaks out
Video: Profile of Ft. Hood hero
RELATED TOPICS

    * Fort Hood
    * Rick Perry
    * Barack Obama

Hasan was transported by air Friday afternoon to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, and had been listed in critical but stable condition.

The incident has sparked national outrage. In his Saturday address, President Obama said it was "an act of violence that would have been heartbreaking had it occurred anyplace in America." But the president said, "it's all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable because of the place where it occurred and the patriots who were its victims."

The White House said President Obama and the first lady will be attending a memorial service on Tuesday and the president ordered flags flying over the White House and other federal buildings to be lowered to half-staff until Veterans Day on Wednesday.

In Texas on Saturday, Smythe told reporters that of the 10 patients admitted to that hospital after the Thursday massacre, four have gone home and one may go home later Saturday. He said of the six originally in the surgical intensive care unit, only two remained there Saturday morning, with the others moved to a regular in-patient floor.

The people in the intensive care unit "are no longer on the ventilator and quite stable." Despite improvements, he said the injuries to some "are so severe that only time will tell how they'll do in the long run."

He said "some of these patients are young and sometimes young patients will surprise you in regards to their rehabilitation."

And at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Jeri Chappelle, a representative of that facility, said eight patients are currently being treated there -- five in the hospital's intensive care unit and three others in a regular unit who are in fair condition.

Perry -- speaking outside the Scott & White hospital -- lauded the hospital's quality and professionalism and praised the patriotism of the soldiers.

"What I heard time after time in those hospital rooms that it's their honor to be able to serve our country, and that is a very humbling thing to watch a young man or woman whose life has been irreparably harmed in a violent act, yet their concern and their interest is in continuing to be able to serve this country," Perry said.

Also, he praised the first responders, and mentioned Fort Hood Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley, the civilian officer who confronted and disabled Hasan in a shootout.

Munley has drawn praise from the military and from citizens across the nations for her quick and bold actions.

Perry called her a "true professional" and a "selfless public servant."

"She's very understated," said Perry, who met her Friday. "A person who understands the gravity of what occurred, but also a classic public servant who is not interested in anything but getting on with her life and hopefully never having an event like this ever occur again."
Even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America.
--President Obama

Citing other reports, Perry said, "this is not the first time that she's been called to action" and said "we all should be thankful that we have people like that in America."

Perry said he is in contact military and state law enforcement officials and that the Texas Rangers are helping federal officials in their probe. The governor also said the Department of State Health Services to send crisis counseling teams to the area.

As for the investigation, Obama said he met with FBI Director Robert Mueller and representatives of other relevant agencies to discuss their probe.

"I'll continue to be in close contact with them as new information comes in," he said in his Saturday radio address.

Obama, a Democrat, and Perry, a Republican, both said that the situation brought out the best in people, citing the efforts of soldiers and civilians to aid others. "Even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display," the president said, "we also saw the best of America."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/07/fort.hood.shootings/

[Heart]

Names of shooting victims released

Posted On: Saturday, Nov. 7 2009 04:15 PM
Updated On: Saturday, Nov. 7 2009 04:26 PM

FORT HOOD -- Fort Hood officials announced today the death of 12 soldiers and one civilian employee killed in a mass shooting Thursday at Fort Hood. At a press conference Saturday, officials listed the names of the victims and paused for a moment of silence.

Spc. Jason Hunt, 22, of Tillman, Okla. He was assigned to the 1st Brigade, Fort Hood.

Spc. Frederick Greene, 29, of Mountain City, Tenn. He was assigned to the 16th Signal Company, Fort Hood.

Pfc. Aaron Nemelka, 19, of West Jordan, Utah. He was assigned to the 510th Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood.

Pfc. Michael Pearson, 22, of Bolinbrook, Ill. He was assigned to the 510th Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood.

Staff Sgt. Justin Decrow, 32, of Plymouth, Ind. He was assigned to the 16th Signal Company, Fort Hood.

Spc. Kham Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn. He was assigned to the 510th Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Battalion, Fort Hood.

Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21, of Chicago, Ill. She was assigned to the 15th Combat Support Battalion, Fort Hood.

Lt. Col. Juanita L. Warman, 55, of Havre De Grace, Md. She was assigned to the 1908th Medical Company, Independence, Mo.

Maj. Libardo Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, Va. He was assigned to the 467th Medical Detachment, Madison, Wis.

Capt. John P. Gaffaney, 54, of San Diego, Calif. He was assigned to the 1908th Medical Company, Independence, Mo.

Capt. Russell Seager, 41, of Racine, Wis. He was assigned to the 467th Medical Company, Madison.

Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis. She was assigned to the 467th Medical Company, Madison, Wis.

Michael Cahill of Cameron, Texas. He was a civilian employee at Fort Hood.

http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=36955

[Heart]

Fort Hood shooting victims


The following is a list of the victims in Thursday's Fort Hood shooting rampage that left 13 dead and 38 injured, of which 30 needed to be hospitalized. The list is compiled from various news reports around the country. Authorities have not released any names of the victims as of noon Friday.

Killed

Michael Grant Cahill, 62, of Cameron was a physician's assistant who was working on the post as a contracted civilian

Major L. Eduardo Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, Va.

Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow, 32, of Plymouth, Ind.

Capt. John P. Gaffaney, 54, of San Diego, Calif.

Spc. Frederick Greene, 29, of Mountain City, Tenn.

Spc. Jason Dean Hunt, 22, of Tillman, Okla.

Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis.

Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, 19, of West Jordan, Utah

Pfc. Michael Pearson, 22, of Bolingbrook, Ill.

Capt. Russell Seager, 41, of Racine, Wis.

Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21, of Chicago. She was pregnant.

Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, 55, of Havre de Grace, Md.

Spc. Kham Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn.

Wounded

Sgt. Patrick Blue III, 23, of Belcourt, N.D., was hit in the side by bullet fragments during the attack

Amber Bahr, 19, of Random Lake, Wis., was shot in the stomach.

Keara Bono Torkelson, 21, of Ostego, Mo., was shot in the back left shoulder.

Alan Carroll, 20, of Bridgewater, N.J., was shot three times.

Reservist Dorothy “Dorrie” Carskadon of Rockford, Ill., was critically injured.

Staff Sgt. Joy Clark, 27, of Des Moines suffered a gunshot wound

Spc. Matthew Cook, 30, of Binghamton, N.Y., was shot in the abdomen

Staff Sgt. Chad Davis of Eufaula, Ala., was wounded.

Pvt. Joey Foster, 21, of Ogden, Utah, was shot in the hip

Cpl. Nathan Hewitt, 26, of West Lafayette, Ind.

Justin Johnson, 21, of Punta Gorda, Fla., was shot in the chest and leg.

Staff. Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, of Richmond County, N.C., was shot multiple times.

Shawn Manning, 33, formerly of Redman, Ore., was shot six times

Army 2nd Lt. Brandy Mason, of Monessen, was wounded.

Reserve Spc. Grant Moxon, 23, of Lodi, Wis., was shot in the leg.

Sgt. Kimberly Munley, 34, of Killeen is the Fort Hood civilian police officer who was shot multiple times by the suspect.

Sgt. John Pagel, 28, of North Freedom, Wis., who was shot in the arm and chest.

Chief Warrant Officer Chris Royal, 38, of Eclectic, Ala., was shot three times.

Maj. Randy Royer of Dothan, Ala., was shot.

Pvt. Raymondo “Ray” Saucedo, 26, of Greenville, Mich., had a bullet graze his arm.

George Stratton III, 18, of Post Falls, Idaho, was shot in the shoulder.

Patrick Zeigler, 28, of Orange County, Fla., was critically wounded.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/fort_hood_shootings/69390697.html

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[Heart]

Witnesses to Fort Hood Shootings Tell Tales of Horror, Heroism

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Pfc. Marquest Smith, who is heading to Afghanistan in January, was filling out medical paperwork about his bee-sting allergy when he heard a loud popping noise.

Moans followed, then the sudden, urgent shout of "Gun!"

Smith poked his head over the cubicle's partition and saw an extraordinary sight: An Army officer with two guns, firing into the crowded room.

The 21-year-old Fort Worth native quickly grabbed the civilian worker who'd been helping with his paperwork and forced her under the desk. He lay low for several minutes, waiting for the shooter to run out of ammunition and wishing he, too, had a gun.

After the shooter stopped to reload, Smith made a run for it. Pushing two other soldiers in front of him, he made it out of the Soldier Readiness Processing center — only to plunge into the building twice more to help the wounded.

Smith had survived the worst mass shooting on an American military base: a rampage of more than 100 shots that left 13 dead and more than two dozen wounded, including the alleged shooter, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

The suspected gunman's Palestinian uncle told Fox News that the family was "shocked" by the allegations and had no indication Hasan was capable of such violence.

"He was very quiet, very nice, never been upset, always a smile," Rafiq Ismail told Fox News' Reena Ninan in an interview in Ramallah, the West Bank. "Til now, we did not believe he did it. It's not him. ... Something happened, made him snap or something."

Ismail said Hasan's parents died several years ago and he had been "coping" with the loss since. He said his nephew was against the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but was dismayed by the anti-Muslim backlash.

"He was saying they were killers, what they did in 9/11. He did not approve of it," Ismail said. "But I tell you he did not like the reaction ... collective punishment for the background Arabic or Islam."
Related Stories


The massacre could have been much worse, but for the heroics of Smith and others — like the 19-year-old private who ignored her own wounds, and the diminutive civilian police officer whose gunfire helped take down Hasan.

"Unfortunately over the past eight years, our Army has been no stranger to tragedy," said a somber Gen. George Casey, Army chief of staff. "But we are an Army that draws strength from adversity. And hearing the stories of courage and heroism that I heard today makes me proud to be the leader of this great Army."

___

Home of the 1st Cavalry and 1st Army Division West, Fort Hood has seen more than its share of deployments and casualties in the past eight years.

As a psychiatrist, Hasan, 39, had listened to soldiers' tales of horror. Now, the American-born Muslim was facing imminent deployment to Afghanistan. In recent days, Hasan had been saying goodbye to friends. He had given away many of his possessions, including copies of the Holy Koran.

At 2:37 a.m. Thursday and again around 5, Hasan called neighbor Willie Bell. Bell could normally hear Hasan's morning prayers through the thin apartment walls, but Hasan skipped the ritual Thursday.

Bell didn't pick up either time, but Hasan left a message.

"Nice knowing you, old friend," Hasan said. "I'm going to miss you."

About an hour later, surveillance cameras at a 7-Eleven across from the base captured images of a smiling Hasan, dressed in a long white garment and white kufi prayer cap, buying his usual breakfast — coffee and a hash brown.

At the processing center on the southern edge of the 100,000-acre base, soldiers returning from overseas mingled with colleagues filling out forms and undergoing medical tests in preparation for deployment.

Around 1:30 p.m., witnesses say a man later identified as Hasan jumped up on a desk and shouted the words "Allahu Akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great!" He was armed with two pistols, one a semiautomatic capable of firing up to 20 rounds without reloading.

Packed into cubicles with 5-foot-high dividers, the 300 unarmed soldiers were sitting ducks. Those who weren't hit by direct fire were struck by rounds ricocheting off the desks and tile floor.

When he decided that Hasan wasn't close to being out of ammo, Smith made a dash for the door. He'd made it outside when he heard cries from within.

"I don't want to die."

"This really hurts."

"Help me get out of here."

Smith rushed back inside and found two wounded. He grabbed them by their collars and dragged them outside.

His second time through the door, he ran into the shooter, whose back was to him. Smith turned and fled, bullets whizzing by his head and hitting the walls as he rushed outside.

Around this time, Fort Hood Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley got the call of "shots fired." The SRP isn't on Munley's beat; she was in the area because her vehicle was in the shop.

Munley, 34, was on the scene within three minutes.

Just over 5 feet tall, Munley is an advanced firearms instructor and civilian member of Fort Hood's special reaction team. She had trained on "active shooter" scenarios after the April 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech University. She didn't wait for backup.

As Munley approached the squat, rectangular building, a soldier emerged from a door with a gunman in pursuit. The officer fired, and the uniformed shooter wheeled and charged.

Another officer, Senior Sgt. Mark Todd, also responded to the sound of gunfire. He arrived to find Hasan "just standing there, hiding behind a telephone pole."

"He just looked like he was calm and he was just pointing, it was almost like he was pointing his finger at me," Todd told CNN in an interview late Friday. "But then I seen the weapon. ... I just know I seen the weapon and muzzle flashes and then that's when we returned the fire."

Munley was hit at least three times in the exchange — twice through the left leg and once in her right wrist. Hasan was hit four times. It's not clear whose bullets hit the suspect, but from the first shots to the last, authorities say the whole incident lasted less than 10 minutes.

___

Pfc. Jeffrey Pearsall, 21, from Houston, was waiting outside in the parking lot for Smith. He was talking to his brother on a cell phone when a group of soldiers ran out the door and a window shattered.

It was only then that he heard the gunshots.

He pulled his pickup truck forward, then hopped out and helped the wounded into the bed. He loaded as many as he could and sped off to the base hospital.

Next door, at the Howze Theater, Spc. Elliot Valdez was filming a graduation ceremony for soldiers who'd completed correspondence courses. Several proud scholars were posing for a group shot when Valdez heard a pounding at the side door.

The door burst open and the theater filled with shouts of "Medic!" and "Stay in the building!" A combat videographer who returned from a 15-month Iraq tour in January, some of it in the notorious Sadr City slums, Valdez ran out into the sunlight.

Crouching as he continued to roll tape, Valdez could see windows broken by fleeing victims. He saw a soldier in his Class A dress uniform with a gunshot in his back. Soldiers in flowing black graduation robes and purple sashes rushed to help.

Pfc. Amber Bahr, 19, of Random Lake, Wis., tore up her blouse and used it as a tourniquet on a wounded comrade. It was only later that she realized she'd been shot in the back, the bullet exiting her abdomen.

Sgt. Andrew Hagerman, a military police officer, was patrolling a housing area when word of shootings crackled over his radio.

As he arrived at the processing center, bloodied soldiers, some shirtless, were already treating each other on the grass outside, ripping pant legs off and tying off wounds. Munley — with whom Hagerman had exchanged small talk on patrols — was being loaded into an ambulance.

Hasan lay on the ground, his two handguns beside him, as medical personnel struggled to remove his handcuffs to treat his wounds.

Hagerman entered the building, took a deep breath and asked himself: "What do I need to do?"

He picked his way around the room's edges, careful not to step in pools of blood or to kick any spent shell casings. He had seen death during his two tours in Iraq, but nothing that compared with this.

In the confusion, Army Reserve Spc. Grant Moxon, 23, lost his cell phone. He borrowed a comrade's phone to send a text to his family in Lodi, Wis.

The message stated simply: "Grant. I was shot in the leg. I'll be OK."

Sgt. Howard Appleby, 31, was at the hospital for his regular meeting with a psychiatrist. Appleby, who was born in Jamaica and grew up in New York City, sustained a traumatic brain injury and has post-traumatic stress disorder from a roadside bomb blast during a tour in Iraq.

His appointment canceled, Appleby found himself pulling the dead and wounded from ambulances. In combat, he was used to one or two casualties a day. "This," he thought, "is crazy."

Lt. Col. Larry Masullo, an emergency room physician from Farmingdale, N.Y., was heading into a monthly meeting to review new doctors' credentials when he heard of the shootings.

"Yeah, OK," he said. "Multiple gunshot wounds. Is this a drill?"

In the next hour and a half, he would treat nearly two dozen soldiers.

For several hours, authorities feared there were several gunmen. By the end of the day, it was clear Hasan had acted alone, they said.

___

Hasan, hooked up to a ventilator, was moved Friday to a military hospital in San Antonio. The woman who stopped him, Munley, awaited surgery Friday to remove the bullets from her leg. Her husband was flying in from Fort Bragg, N.C.

Her boss, Chuck Medley, was thankful. "If an officer had to be close by to respond," he said, "Kim Munley is someone we'd want to be there."

Marquest Smith says some of the people he helped made it. But he knows others did not.

Afterward, Smith noticed a hole in heel of his right combat boot. A bullet had entered the boot, but he had somehow escaped injury — at least the physical kind.

After the adrenaline wore off, Smith was overwhelmed by a sense of betrayal, because this assailant who spilled so much blood was a soldier.

"We're supposed to be a family," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,572859,00.html

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U.S. Army Specialist Ryan Hill and his daughter, Emma Hill,3, pray together as they light a candle and lay flowers at the front gate to Fort Hood following a shooting rampage on Thursday.

Beverly Jones writes her feelings about the Fort Hood shooting at a Killeen American Red Cross facility.

[Heart]

Fort Hood Profiles: Capt. John Gaffaney


By WSJ Staff


This undated image provided by the Gaffaney family shows John Gaffaney, who was killed Thursday Nov. 5, 2009 during a shooting where a gunman opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Gaffaney Family)

Thirteen people were killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Army base, including Capt. John Gaffaney. Here is a short profile:

Capt. Gaffaney, 56, was a psychiatric nurse who worked for San Diego County, Calif., for more than 20 years and had arrived at Fort Hood the day before the shooting to prepare for a deployment to Iraq.

Capt. Gaffaney, who was born in Williston, N.D., had served in the Navy and later the California National Guard as a younger man, his family said. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he tried to sign up again for military service. Although the Army Reserves at first declined, he got the call about two years ago asking him to rejoin, said his close friend and co-worker Stephanie Powell.

“He wanted to help the boys in Iraq and Afghanistan deal with the trauma of what they were seeing,” Ms. Powell said. “He was an honorable man. He just wanted to serve in any way he can.”

His family described him as an avid baseball card collector and fan of the San Diego Padres who liked to read military novels and ride his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Capt. Gaffaney supervised a team of six social workers, including Powell, at the county’s Adult Protective Services department. Ellen Schmeding, assistant deputy director for the county’s Health and Human Services Agency, said Capt. Gaffaney was a strong leader. He is survived by a wife and a son.

– Associated Press

http://blogs.wsj.com/dispatch/2009/11/06/fort-hood-profiles-capt-john-gaffaney/

[Heart]

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's unit 9 is located at top left of the Casa Del Norte apartment complex

Fort Hood shooting: inside story of how massacre on military base happened

By Philip Sherwell and Nick Allen in Fort Hood
Published: 8:41PM GMT 07 Nov 2009


Tuesday 4pm

It may have been the first, small clue that an apparently ordinary week at the world's largest army base was about to become something horrifically different, when neighbours saw Major Nidal Hasan escorting a visitor into his flat.

Other residents at the Casa del Norte apartment complex were surprised to see the mild-mannered army officer accompanied by another man in Islamic dress.

Alice Thompson, 53, who manages the two storey block of simple dwellings with her husband John, told The Sunday Telegraph: "It was very unusual because he had never had anyone round before. His visitor had long black hair and a moustache and a dark complexion. He stayed about five minutes and then left. We'd never seen him before."

Hasan had paid six months money upfront for the flat after being transferred to Fort Hood in July, and insisted to the Thompsons that nobody could enter his apartment, even to do repairs, when he was out.

What his neighbours could not know is that within less than 48 hours, Hasan was to shatter the peace and security of the Fort Hood base by slaughtering 13 people - all but one of them soldiers - and force America to confront some of its deepest fears.

Now investigators are trying frantically to identify Hasan's visitor, as they seek to unravel the hours that led up to his deadly attack.

Wednesday 9.30am

Hasan starts emptying his flat and saying his goodbyes, telling other residents that he would be deploying to Afghanistan on Friday. He knocked on the door of his next door neighbour Patricia Villa, 47. She said: "I opened the door and he was carrying two bags. He looked in and saw my apartment was empty and he said 'You need some furniture.'

"Then he asked me if I wanted some vegetables. There was broccoli and spinach in the bags. He had five or six T-shirts and a suit as well. He said he was going to give them to the Salvation Army but then he said, 'If you want you can have them'."

He also gave her a copy of the Koran. At around the same time, he knocked on the doors of two other neighbours and gave them each a Koran as well. Mrs Thompson said: "That did seem a bit strange. He was friendly but he told them 'Please read it'."

THURSDAY

2.37am: Hasan telephones Willie Bell, 51, who lives next door and whose laptop he sometimes borrowed, to ask him to switch on his wireless internet connection.

5am: He phones Mr Bell again, who recalled: "He said, 'Nice knowing you, friend. I wish you'd plug up your internet system so I could get online. Goodbye good buddy, I'll be moving'." Mr Bell now believes that Hasan had often logged on to his internet service

About 5.30am: He makes his way to the town mosque, the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, where he worshipped for three months, for pre-dawn Fajr prayers with around 10 other worshippers, all but one other civilians. He usually wore regular clothes and sometimes a uniform, but this time is dressed in a white Arab dishdash and skull cap. He is relaxed, engaging in a friendly competition with a fellow officer from Fort Hood - a recent convert to Islam - to see who could first recite the Azan, the call to prayer. At around 6.15am Hasan leaves, as others stay behind to read parts of the Koran. He "appeared relaxed and not in any way troubled or nervous", according to the officer.

6.22am: A creature of habit, he buys his regular breakfast of hash brown potatoes and coffee from his local Seven-11 convenience store, still wearing his Muslim robes rather his usual attire of uniform or hospital scrubs. As he heads out of the store, the CCTV camera captures him smiling and relaxed. The owner, who was also an Arab said he was too busy to chat on Thursday, but Hasan had previously asked him if he attended Friday prayers and apparently jokingly asked if he could find him a bride.

8.30am: Hasan is seen taking some rubbish bags out of his flat and throwing them into a skip at the back of the building. Mrs Thompson said: "It was the first time I'd seen him throw anything away. I saw there was shredded paper in there. The police came later and took the bags away." She said Hasan paid $325 a month rent and had paid six months in advance. Despite telling her he was leaving for Afghanistan he does not ask for any money back, saying the money should go to a deserving cause. He also took around some more items to Mrs Villa, including an air mattress and clothes steamer, and offered her $60 to clean his empty apartment.

"He said he was ready," she recalled. "I figured he's with God. He's ready to fight."

Later that morning: He changes into his uniform and drives on to the base, smuggling with him two guns, a semi-automatic fn 5.7 millimetre known as a "cop killer", and a revolver. He bought the fn 5.7 in August from the Guns Galore store in Killeen, across the street from the mosque. Investigators are still trying to track down the source of the revolver.

He heads to his office in the Darnell medical centre, home to the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Programme for veterans of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here Maj Hasan counselled returning soldiers, dealing with problems ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to drug and alcohol abuse, as he had done previously at Walter Reed, America's largest hospital for wounded veterans on the edge of Washington DC. He checks his guns, loads the magazines and, perhaps, prays again

1-1.30pm: Makes his way across the world's biggest military base to the Soldier Readiness Centre, one mile away. Inside, an estimated 300 soldiers, some preparing for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, some recently returned, are awaiting vaccinations and eye checks. They are unarmed, in keeping with military rules on the base, which is the size of a small city.

1.30pm: According to eye-witnesses, Hasan - who had at first sat down as if to help soldiers with their paperwork - stands on a desk and shouts "Allahu Akhbar" ("God is great") before opening fire with the fn 5.7 inside the centre, spraying soldiers and civilian workers with bullets from the semi-automatic weapon, a favourite of Mexican drug gangs. Sgt Johnny Kallon, 30, a human resources specialist about to be deployed to Iraq, is among those nearby who hear the gunfire and makes an emergency 911 call from his mobile phone.

1.34-44: As Hasan fires off more than 100 rounds, mostly inside the centre, unarmed soldiers duck for cover, pulling others with them to safety. In a brief lull in the shooting, some believe - mistakenly - that Hasan is out of ammunition and make a break for it from the building. Private Marquest Smith, a 21-year-old father of two who had been completing his medical paperwork, is among them, dragging two wounded soldiers outside.

Then he goes back in, and sees Hasan with his guns. "He had his back turned to me," he told the New York Times. "And when I turned to run, that's when I started hearing rounds going past my body, hitting the wall."

Outside, a friend with a pickup truck yells at the wounded to get in, and drives them to a nearby casualty unit.

Meanwhile two civilian police officers who had been directing traffic on the base respond to the 911 call. Sgt Kim Munley, the mother of a three-year-old girl, and her colleague Sgt Mark Todd arrive as Hasan leaves the building, still firing. The officers chase him around it, exchanging shots. Then Hasan begins to fumble with his gun.

"He's reloading," someone screams. The two officers open fire, downing Hasan with four swift shots - at least two of them from Sgt Munley's 9-millimeter Beretta. She is also felled, by two bullets that struck each thigh and a further one that hits her wrist.

Soldiers tear off strips from their uniforms to treat the injured.

Medics taking part in a graduation ceremony in a nearby hall race to the scene, some still in caps and gowns. They encounter horrific scenes - trails of blood, the injured, the dead and dying.

Altogether, 12 soldiers and one civilian are dead or dying. Another 30 people are injured by gun shots. Soldiers who witnessed the killing spree described Hasan as calm and methodical, and the gunfire as continuous and well-aimed.

An Army officer said that he counted three full magazines of ammunition near Hasan's felled body and five or six empty ones.

Army medic Francisco Delaserna is among those who arrive on the scene where Sgt Munley is drifting in and out of consciousness because of blood loss. He applies a tourniquet and then moves on to treat Hasan, the man he had just seen gunning down his comrades. "He was very calm, pale but breathing steadily. It didn't look like anything was fazing him," he said.

Inside the building, amid slippery pools of blood, those slain include Francheska Velez, 21, of Chicago, who was pregnant and preparing to return home. She had recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Sgt Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wisconsin, joined the army after the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 and had arrived at Fort Hood two days earlier, on her way to Afghanistan.

Others killed include Private Michael Pearson, 21, from Chicago, who left his job with a furniture company to join the Army a year ago - and Michael Grant Cahill, a 62-year-old physician assistant, who was just back at work after a heart attack two weeks ago.

In the chaos, Hasan is initially reported to have been killed - as is the as-yet unnamed police officer (Sgt Munley) who heroically halted his rampage. In the end both he and Sgt Munley survive, after being treated at the scene by the same medic - Specialist Delaserna .

Hasan and three of his badly injured victims are swiftly evacuated by helicopter to a civilian hospital in the town of Temple.

Other victims are loaded into cars and rushed to the nearby Darnell medical centre, where Hasan worked, for treatment. "It was just like being back in Iraq," said Sgt Howard Appleby, who was at the centre being treated for post-traumatic stress.

Some injured called their loved ones on mobile phones to let them know they were wounded but alive.

For most of the afternoon, the world's largest military base - home to about 70,000 troops, relatives and support staff - remains in lockdown as helicopters buzz overhead.

3.30pm: FBI officers arrive at Hasan's apartment, remove his few remaining possessions and question neighbours. They have already retrieved his handguns from the scene of the massacre and his car from its parking space.

Shortly after 7pm: the sirens sound again. "Declared emergency no longer exists" says a woman's voice over loudspeakers across the base. The lockdown is over.

10pm: Base commander Lt Gen Robert Cone reveals that Hasan and Sgt Munley are both alive after all. Hasan is on a ventilator under military guard in a nearby hospital.

FRIDAY

9am: Investigators return to Hasan's apartment, take his neighbour Mr Bell in for questioning and remove the laptop that Hasan sometimes borrowed. They also take away the rubbish skip outside.

3pm: Still in a coma, Hasan is removed to the Brooke Army Medical Centre in San Antonio. Around the same time, the 13 flag-draped coffins of the dead are loaded, in a solemn military ceremony in front of hundreds of comrades, some the walking wounded, onto a plane for the trip to Delaware's Dover Air Force Base.

SATURDAY

President Barack Obama uses his weekly radio address to attempt to rally the nation. "Thursday's shooting was one of the most devastating ever committed on an American military base," he says. "And yet, even as we saw the worst of human nature on full display, we also saw the best of America."

Doctors say they are still fighting to save the injured Sgt Munley from a lifetime in a wheelchair. Flags across the nation are flying at half mast.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6521578/Fort-Hood-shooting-inside-story-of-how-massacre-on-military-base-happened.html

[Heart]

CNN reporting that Hasan is off the ventilator and breathing on his own now.

[Heart]

Army base shooter fired over 100 rounds: official
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/fort.hood.suspect.muslim/

[MuffyBee]

Thank you Heart and Txflame for updating, bringing new information and photos. 

[Heart]

Army: Shooting suspect taken off ventilator

(AP) – 22 minutes ago

FORT HOOD, Texas — A U.S. Army spokesman says the man authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood has been taken off a ventilator but still remains in intensive care at a military hospital.

Spokesman Col. John Rossi told reporters on Saturday at Fort Hood that he is not sure if Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is able to communicate.

Hasan was shot during an exchange of gunfire during Thursday's attack. The military moved him on Friday to Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood. Army officials have said Hasan is "not able to converse."

Thirteen people were killed and 29 others wounded in Thursday's attack at Fort Hood.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gDVj-7phfCQirtlF1811TzRfwN9gD9BR1MR01

[Heart]

Thank you Heart and Txflame for updating, bringing new information and photos. 

You are welcome Muffy!  Just wish that it was a pleasant topic of discussion instead of this terriorist attack on our soil once again.

[Heart]

Preliminary Fort Hood Inquiry Turns Up No Link to Terror Plot
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/us/08investigate.html

[Fanny Mae]

Preliminary Fort Hood Inquiry Turns Up No Link to Terror Plot
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/us/08investigate.html

What else would the NEW YORK TIMES say??? It wouldn't be politically correct to mention the "visitor" he had before he left home that day, would it? 

[MuffyBee]

List of 13 victims released

Saturday, November 7, 2009, 04:05 PM

Fort Hood officials this afternoon released the official list of those killed in Thursday’s shooting. Eleven of the names had become public previously.

Maj. Libardo Caraveo, 52, Woodbridge, Va.

Spec. Frederick Greene, 29, Mountain City, Tenn.

Michael Cahill, 62, Cameron

Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21, Chicago

Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, 19, West Jordan, Utah

Pfc. Michael Pearson, 31, Bolingbrook, Ill.

Spc. Jason Dean Hunt, 27, Frederick, Okla.

Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, Kiel, Wisc.

Pfc. Kham Xiong, 23, St. Paul, Minn.

Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, 55, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Capt. Russell Seager, 51, Racine, Wisc.

Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow, 32, Fort Gordon, Ga.

Capt. John Gaffaney, 56, San Diego, Calif.


http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2009/11/07/list_of_13_victims_released.html