Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood Shooter, Sentenced To Death

Nidal Malik Hasan was sentenced to death on Wednesday for his 2009 shooting spree at Ford Hood, Tex., that left 13 dead and 23 others injured.

Hasan, 42, was handed down the death penalty by a jury panel of 13 senior military officers, reported the Washington Post. Each officer had to find Hasan’s crimes worthy of punishment by death in order for the sentence to stand. If only one member of the jury had dissented, Hasan would have faced life in prison. The sentencing deliberations barely exceeded two hours.

The former Army psychiatrist was stripped of pay and benefits after he was convicted of the 13 counts of murder and the 32 additional counts of attempted premeditated murder. He will be transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he will be placed on death row. Due to the mandatory and lengthy process of appeals in the military court system, Hasan won’t likely be administered the lethal injection for several years.

Ignoring advice from the judge to seek out an attorney, Hasan had opted to represent himself. Throughout the 22-day trial, he didn’t call any witnesses or offer any testimony. The only time he spoke was to give a short opening statement in which he admitted to committing the crimes he stood accused, and said they were done in the name of Islam.

On Nov. 5, 2009, Hasan, armed with a high-powered, high-capacity handgun, walked into Fort Hood’s Soldier Processing Center. Inside were dozens of troops who were getting medical checkups prior to deploying for Afghanistan. Hasan fired over 200 shots before military police officers were able to take him down.

– Chelsea Regan

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