Hi to everybody...this is a strange business...according to the news today, the gunman wanted to leave the Army and did not want to be redeployed to Afghanistan...he wasn't allowed to leave...the result is 13 dead and 28 or more injured when he started to fire a machine gun at Fort Hood...Here is the news article about the incident...

US gunman 'set for Afghan tour'

Colonel John Rossi: "This has been a tragic incident"

A US major believed to have killed 13 people in a gun attack at a Texas army base was due to be deployed soon to Afghanistan, a military official said.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a US-born Muslim, opened fire on soldiers at Fort Hood on Thursday.

Relatives of the army psychiatrist said he had strongly opposed his deployment and had wanted to leave the army.

US officials said investigations into what prompted the attack had continued through the night.

At an early morning news conference at Fort Hood, military officials said 12 soldiers and one civilian had been killed.

MAJOR NIDAL MALIK HASAN
US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan
US-born Muslim raised in Virginia
Joined the army and trained to be a psychiatrist
Treated soldiers returning from combat zones
Described as a devout Muslim who attended prayers regularly
Said to have been unhappy about imminent overseas deployment

Profile: Major Nidal Malik Hasan

Of the 28 people who remained in hospital, 14 had required surgery but all were in a stable condition, Col Dr Steven Braverman said.

There was no comment on what might have triggered the attack.

"We're not going to speculate about motives. We'll let investigators find that out," deputy base commander Col John Rossi said.

Maj Hasan was shot four times during the attack and is currently on a ventilator in hospital, under armed guard.

The policewoman who shot him first is in a stable condition in hospital, officials said.

President Barack Obama described it as "a horrific outburst of violence".

He said: "It is difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women abroad, but it is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on US soil."

'Could have been worse'

The shooting began at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical centre at Fort Hood.

Initial reports said that the gunman - armed with two handguns, one of them a semi-automatic - had been killed. However officials later said that the suspect was in custody.

That's it so far...but it said here that the Deputy Base commander said they were not going to speculate on the motives of Major Malik...it seems pretty clear that the Major had some form of breakdown when the US army wouldn't release him from the Army. As an Army psychiatrist, it is possible he had just heard too much and seen too much damage done to the army personnel and couldn't take any more...the Army underestimated his state of mind and the consequences have been disastrous...