Fort Hood mass shooter to be executed by firing squad

The former U.S. Army major who killed 13 people in a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, will be executed by firing squad, the Pentagon said Monday. In addition to the murders, Nidal Malik Hasan wounded 32 people in his rampage, during which he shouted “Allahu Akbar,” said Defense Department’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended Hasan’s execution by a U.S. Army firing squad, and President Donald Trump approved the death sentence. Acting Army Secretary Adam R. Telle will set a time and place for the execution, Parnell said. Hasan’s punishment will mark the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years.

What led to the mass shooting? Hasan entered the Army base in Texas and opened fire on a group of fellow soldiers. Before law enforcement could stop him, he shot dozens of military personnel and a few civilians. During criminal court proceedings, Hasan admitted he attacked to support the Taliban.

A jury convicted Hasan of premeditated murder and attempted murder in 2013, and recommended that the major receive a death sentence. Since then, Hasan has been incarcerated on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

What were the last U.S. military executions? In 1961, Army Pvt. John Bennett was executed by hanging at the gallows after being convicted of raping and attempting to kill a young girl. The U.S. military last executed someone using a firing squad in 1945, when Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik, a draftee who already had a prison record, was executed in France for desertion during World War II.