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<div id="hn-line">Fort Hood suspect said methodical goodbyes</div>
By MIKE BAKER and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE
(AP)
â€"
25 minutes ago</span>
FORT HOOD, Texas â€" As if going off to war, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan
cleaned out his apartment, gave leftover frozen broccoli to one
neighbor and called another to thank him for his friendship â€" common
courtesies and routines of the departing soldier. Instead, authorities
say, he went on the killing spree that left 13 people at Fort Hood,
Texas, dead.
Investigators examined Hasan's computer, his home
and his garbage Friday to learn what motivated the suspect, who lay in
a coma, shot four times in the frantic bloodletting that also wounded
30. Hospital officials said some of the wounded had extremely serious
injuries and might not survive.
The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist
emerged as a study in contradictions: a polite man who stewed with
discontent, a counselor who needed to be counseled himself, a
professional healer now suspected of cutting down the fellow soldiers
he was sworn to help.
Relatives said he felt harassed because of
his Muslim faith but did not embrace extremism. Others were not so
sure. A recent classmate said Hasan once gave a jarring presentation to
students in which he argued the war on terrorism was a war against
Islam, and "made himself a lightning rod for things" when he felt his
religious beliefs were challenged.
Investigators were trying to
piece together how and why Hasan allegedly gunned down his comrades in
one of the worst mass shootings ever on an American military base. The
rampage unfolded at a center where some 300 unarmed soldiers were lined
up for vaccines and eye tests.
Soldiers reported that the gunman
shouted "Allahu Akbar!" â€" an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" â€" before
opening fire Thursday, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander.
He said officials had not confirmed Hasan made the comment.
Hasan's
family said in a statement Friday that his alleged actions were
"despicable and deplorable" and don't reflect how the family was reared.
Hasan
was due to be deployed to Afghanistan to help soldiers with combat
stress, a task he'd done stateside with returning soldiers, the Army
said. The timing of his departure was not disclosed.
In any event, the major was saying goodbyes and dispensing belongings to neighbors.
Jose Padilla, the owner of Hasan's apartment complex, said Hasan gave him notice two weeks ago that he was moving out this week.
Earlier
this week, Hasan asked Padilla his native language. When Padilla said
it was Spanish, Hasan immediately went up to his apartment to get him a
Spanish-language Quran. Padilla said Hasan also refused to reclaim his
deposit and last month's rent, surrendering $400 that the major said
should go to someone who needed it.
"I cannot comprehend that the
enemy was among us," Padilla said, tearing up. "I feel a little guilt
that I was basically giving housing to someone who is going to do so
much destruction."
Neighbor Patricia Villa said Hasan came to her
apartment the day of the shooting, and before, to give her vegetables,
an air mattress, T-shirts, a Quran and offer her $60 to clean his
Killeen, Texas, apartment after he left.
Jacqueline Harris, 44,
who lives with her boyfriend Willie Bell in the apartment next door to
Hasan, said he called Thursday at 5 a.m. and left a message.
"He
just wanted to thank Willie for being a good friend and thank him for
being there for him," Harris said. "That was it. We thought it was just
a nice message to leave."
Bell said Hasan offered a farewell, saying "nice knowing you old friend. I'm going to miss you."
According
to a Killeen police report in August, an Army employee was charged with
scratching Hasan's car, causing $1,000 in damage. Apartment manager
John Thompson said the man charged was a soldier back from Iraq, who
objected to Hasan's faith and ripped a bumper sticker off the major's
car that said: "Allah is Love."
Kim Rosenthal, another neighbor,
said Hasan didn't seem too upset by his scratched vehicle, even though
it was damaged so badly that he got a new one. "He said it was Ramadan
and that he had to forgive people," Rosenthal said. "He forgave him and
moved on."
Hasan appeared less forgiving to Dr. Val Finnell when
they were classmates in a 2007-08 master's public health program at the
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.
She
said that at a class presentation by public health students, at which
topics like dry cleaning chemicals and house mold were discussed, Hasan
talked about U.S. military actions as a war on Islam. Hasan made clear
he was a "vociferous opponent" of U.S. wars in Muslim countries,
Finnell said.
"He made himself a lightning rod for things," she said. "No one picked on him because he was a Muslim."
Law
enforcement officials said they are trying to confirm if Hasan wrote
Internet postings that include his name about suicide bombings and
other threats, equating suicide bombers to soldiers who throw
themselves on a grenade to save the life of fellow soldiers.
Hasan
is the Arlington, Va.-born son of Palestinian parents who ran a
restaurant and bar in Roanoke, Va., from 1987 to 1995, and owned a
small grocery store in that city.
His relatives in the West Bank said they had heard from family members that Hasan felt mistreated in the Army as a Muslim.
"He
told (them) that as a Muslim committed to his prayers he was
discriminated against and not treated as is fitting for an officer and
American," said Mohammed Malik Hasan, 24, a cousin. "He hired a lawyer
to get him a discharge."
Mohammed Hasan said outside his home in
Ramallah that he heard about the shooting from a relative. "I was
surprised, honestly, because the guy and his brothers are so calm, and
he, as I know, loves his work."
Nidal Hasan is the eldest of
three brothers. One brother, Annas, lives in Ramallah with a wife and
daughter, and practices law. The youngest brother, Eyad, lives in
Virginia.
"We don't mix with them a lot," Mohammed said. "Nidal like to stay alone, he was very calm. He minded his own business."
Blackledge reported from Washington. Associated Press writers
Lara Jakes, Lolita C. Baldor, Cal Woodward, Devlin Barrett, Brett
Zongker and Jessica Gresko in Washington; Sue Lindsey in Roanoke, Va.;
April Castro and Jeff Carlton in Killeen, Texas; Dalia Nammari in
Ramallah, West Bank; and AP's News Research Center in New York
contributed to this report.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ihGepAkECGoDagETVBMpPb3w7Y3gD9BQ9NI01
By MIKE BAKER and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE
(AP)
â€"
25 minutes ago</span>
FORT HOOD, Texas â€" As if going off to war, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan
cleaned out his apartment, gave leftover frozen broccoli to one
neighbor and called another to thank him for his friendship â€" common
courtesies and routines of the departing soldier. Instead, authorities
say, he went on the killing spree that left 13 people at Fort Hood,
Texas, dead.
Investigators examined Hasan's computer, his home
and his garbage Friday to learn what motivated the suspect, who lay in
a coma, shot four times in the frantic bloodletting that also wounded
30. Hospital officials said some of the wounded had extremely serious
injuries and might not survive.
The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist
emerged as a study in contradictions: a polite man who stewed with
discontent, a counselor who needed to be counseled himself, a
professional healer now suspected of cutting down the fellow soldiers
he was sworn to help.
Relatives said he felt harassed because of
his Muslim faith but did not embrace extremism. Others were not so
sure. A recent classmate said Hasan once gave a jarring presentation to
students in which he argued the war on terrorism was a war against
Islam, and "made himself a lightning rod for things" when he felt his
religious beliefs were challenged.
Investigators were trying to
piece together how and why Hasan allegedly gunned down his comrades in
one of the worst mass shootings ever on an American military base. The
rampage unfolded at a center where some 300 unarmed soldiers were lined
up for vaccines and eye tests.
Soldiers reported that the gunman
shouted "Allahu Akbar!" â€" an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" â€" before
opening fire Thursday, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander.
He said officials had not confirmed Hasan made the comment.
Hasan's
family said in a statement Friday that his alleged actions were
"despicable and deplorable" and don't reflect how the family was reared.
Hasan
was due to be deployed to Afghanistan to help soldiers with combat
stress, a task he'd done stateside with returning soldiers, the Army
said. The timing of his departure was not disclosed.
In any event, the major was saying goodbyes and dispensing belongings to neighbors.
Jose Padilla, the owner of Hasan's apartment complex, said Hasan gave him notice two weeks ago that he was moving out this week.
Earlier
this week, Hasan asked Padilla his native language. When Padilla said
it was Spanish, Hasan immediately went up to his apartment to get him a
Spanish-language Quran. Padilla said Hasan also refused to reclaim his
deposit and last month's rent, surrendering $400 that the major said
should go to someone who needed it.
"I cannot comprehend that the
enemy was among us," Padilla said, tearing up. "I feel a little guilt
that I was basically giving housing to someone who is going to do so
much destruction."
Neighbor Patricia Villa said Hasan came to her
apartment the day of the shooting, and before, to give her vegetables,
an air mattress, T-shirts, a Quran and offer her $60 to clean his
Killeen, Texas, apartment after he left.
Jacqueline Harris, 44,
who lives with her boyfriend Willie Bell in the apartment next door to
Hasan, said he called Thursday at 5 a.m. and left a message.
"He
just wanted to thank Willie for being a good friend and thank him for
being there for him," Harris said. "That was it. We thought it was just
a nice message to leave."
Bell said Hasan offered a farewell, saying "nice knowing you old friend. I'm going to miss you."
According
to a Killeen police report in August, an Army employee was charged with
scratching Hasan's car, causing $1,000 in damage. Apartment manager
John Thompson said the man charged was a soldier back from Iraq, who
objected to Hasan's faith and ripped a bumper sticker off the major's
car that said: "Allah is Love."
Kim Rosenthal, another neighbor,
said Hasan didn't seem too upset by his scratched vehicle, even though
it was damaged so badly that he got a new one. "He said it was Ramadan
and that he had to forgive people," Rosenthal said. "He forgave him and
moved on."
Hasan appeared less forgiving to Dr. Val Finnell when
they were classmates in a 2007-08 master's public health program at the
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.
She
said that at a class presentation by public health students, at which
topics like dry cleaning chemicals and house mold were discussed, Hasan
talked about U.S. military actions as a war on Islam. Hasan made clear
he was a "vociferous opponent" of U.S. wars in Muslim countries,
Finnell said.
"He made himself a lightning rod for things," she said. "No one picked on him because he was a Muslim."
Law
enforcement officials said they are trying to confirm if Hasan wrote
Internet postings that include his name about suicide bombings and
other threats, equating suicide bombers to soldiers who throw
themselves on a grenade to save the life of fellow soldiers.
Hasan
is the Arlington, Va.-born son of Palestinian parents who ran a
restaurant and bar in Roanoke, Va., from 1987 to 1995, and owned a
small grocery store in that city.
His relatives in the West Bank said they had heard from family members that Hasan felt mistreated in the Army as a Muslim.
"He
told (them) that as a Muslim committed to his prayers he was
discriminated against and not treated as is fitting for an officer and
American," said Mohammed Malik Hasan, 24, a cousin. "He hired a lawyer
to get him a discharge."
Mohammed Hasan said outside his home in
Ramallah that he heard about the shooting from a relative. "I was
surprised, honestly, because the guy and his brothers are so calm, and
he, as I know, loves his work."
Nidal Hasan is the eldest of
three brothers. One brother, Annas, lives in Ramallah with a wife and
daughter, and practices law. The youngest brother, Eyad, lives in
Virginia.
"We don't mix with them a lot," Mohammed said. "Nidal like to stay alone, he was very calm. He minded his own business."
Blackledge reported from Washington. Associated Press writers
Lara Jakes, Lolita C. Baldor, Cal Woodward, Devlin Barrett, Brett
Zongker and Jessica Gresko in Washington; Sue Lindsey in Roanoke, Va.;
April Castro and Jeff Carlton in Killeen, Texas; Dalia Nammari in
Ramallah, West Bank; and AP's News Research Center in New York
contributed to this report.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ihGepAkECGoDagETVBMpPb3w7Y3gD9BQ9NI01
