Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan will be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas, on Dec. 3, for fatally shooting 13 people and wounding 32 in 2009 at the same base, the Army said in a statement on Wednesday. The rampage was the deadliest mass shooting on an American military installation. President Trump approved the execution earlier this week.
If carried out, Major Hasan will be the first person executed through the military justice system since a soldier was hanged in 1961. The last U.S. service member executed by firing squad was Pvt. Edward Donald Slovik, who was put to death in France on Jan. 31, 1945.
Major Hasan, paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by law enforcement during his attack, was convicted by courts-martial of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder on Aug. 23, 2013, and sentenced to death five days later. The acting secretary of the Army, Adam R. Telle, chose death by firing squad for Major Hasan.
The execution will occur at 1 p.m. Central time at Fort Hood, just 63 days after President Trump approved the action. Whether Major Hasan, who uses a wheelchair, will be shot sitting down or strapped upright is unclear.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing