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TOPICS: shootings, fort hood, nidal malik hasan, crime, shooting
A Virginia Tech graduate is accused of killing 13 and wounding 31 at Fort Hood, Texas.
The Collegiate Times has confirmed through the university’s alumni database that Nidal Malik Hasan graduated from Tech in 1995 with a degree in biochemistry and nutrition.
According to Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, the base commander, Hasan is in stable condition and in custody.
Military authorities said in a press conference this evening that Hasan, 39, was shot by military police after opening fire in the Texas U.S. Army base.
The identities of the dead or wounded were not released.
“We will bring in the expertise necessary to properly investigate this case,” Cone said at the press conference. He refused to speculate on whether the shootings were random or targeted.
The Fort Hood shooting occurred around 1:30 p.m. CST yesterday at a personnel and medical processing center, when Hasan allegedly opened fire with two weapons on soldiers receiving medical checkups while preparing to be deployed overseas.
Hasan used two firearms during the attack, Cone said.
A graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college courses during their deployment was going on in an auditorium at the Readiness Center at the time of the shooting, said Sgt. Rebekah Lampam, a Fort Hood spokeswoman.
A public affairs officer at the base said sirens sounded on the base to alert all personnel to remain where they were. A scrolling notice on the base’s Web site declared, “Organizations/units are instructed to execute a 100 percent accountability of all personnel. This is not a drill. It is an emergency situation.”
Cone described the shootings as occurring between two facilities, in “a large waiting area.”
“I have to describe this as a very enclosed area. That’s why I think you get that large number of casualties,” Cone said.
Cone said all casualties were military personnel.
“It’s a terrible tragedy. It’s stunning,” Cone said.
Cone said the quick response from the soldiers and their training in first aid helped avoid an even greater loss of lives.
“Thanks to the quick reaction of our soldiers they were able to close off the doors,” Cone said. “As horrible as this was, I think it could have been much worse. God bless these soldiers.”
In a 1994 article in the Roanoke Times, Hasan, raised in the Islamic faith, was listed as a native of Vinton, Va., and was named to the dean’s list.
Fox News questioned Hasan’s cousin, Nader Hasan, regarding the suspect’s religious beliefs. The cousin said Hasan was Muslim, but had never voiced any radical or anti-American beliefs.
Student Muslim leaders on campus were quick to denounce the shootings and rule out religion as a legitimate factor.
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What an awful, horrible act of violence and another blow to the name of our Alma mater. God bless the victims and their families.
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Would his alma mater even be mentioned if he had graduated from anywhere else!
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you are exactly, right. it wouldn't have !!!!!
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No - there was another shooting in Orlando and I don't see anyone mentioning his alma mater.
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Grow up and if you are going to make ignorant statements like this that show your low intelligence get them right. The VT shooter on campus hadn't graduated and neither did Vick. The only grad was this evil person from yesterday.
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Again? Jeez will this University never catch a break?
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oh my god...seriously? my heart goes out to the victims of today. wow.
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I really don't know why this is newsworthy. Should we also care what his hometown is? What kind of cereal he eats? Associating this guy with us when he graduated over a decade ago is just plain weak.
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And yet if we graduated an astounding businessman, world class engineer or anything of the sort, we would absolutely take credit for that. You have to take the good with the bad.
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Yes, because careers have a direct link with education. Snapping under the circumstances Hasan was under has NOTHING to do with Virginia Tech.
Nice try at being edgy.
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As sickening as it's going to be to go to work tomorrow and listen to co-workers speculate about the connection between VT and mass murders, the important thing right is to keep our thoughts with the victims families, because they are the ones who are really suffering.
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JEFF - show some hokie pride. That is the exact attitude we DON'T need the media portraying. Step up, support your Virginia Tech, and don't say stupid things on a public website.
We, the students and alumni, are not the few bad eggs the media has seen.
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Well said, Hokie Love.
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My name was Jeff, but I was censored by Hokie Love.
Hey, dimwit, stop talking like you control people's voices.
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Jeff, you're an idiot
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I feel so sad for the victims' families and for everyone at Fort Hood. I'm shocked that VT is again connected to something like this. Ugh.
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This is not a game. We live in desperate times. Two kids shot in their car in Charlottesville last weekend, abduction, two kids murdered in the NF from VT.
Chief of Police at VT got a 40,000 a year raise in 2008 during a budget crisis. Is that because he did such a great job during the massacre or is it hush money, because he knows too much.
Vick and Beamer VT heros????????
Counselor hides Cho's records for 2 years and calls it a mistake.
Parents of dead children have to take admin and mental health to court to see if they are liable for their behavior and actions.
Employee shot in Gym Aug 08 covered up.
Kaine not reopening case after new evidence comes to light.
Time for VT students and people across VA to protest and put an end to this incompetence corruption and tyranny/MURDER!!!!!!!!
Time for this insanity to end!
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Time to take your Xanax..
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I did already.
I can protect myself from the SOB's it's the naive and uninformed that are at risk.
My rules, "Don't believe anything you read or hear and only half of what you see."
But the system brainwashes and intimidates you into trusting "THEIR" judgment and decisions, while innocents die because of it.
Wake up smell the coffee and kick these criminals to the curb or better yet put them in the slammer where they belong.
Ignore the warning signs at your own peril.
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How darn you blame Virginia Tech, a school that has produced among others 7 Medal of Honor recipients. You obviously know nothing about the school or those that work there.
From a Veteran of the Gulf War and Afghanistan.
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Beamer has done more for this University and its students than you ever will. How dare you take a personal swipe at a man who has nothing to do with either of these tragedy's and had no idea what evil Michael Vick was involving himself with.
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Let me guess...a Hokie was involved with the Kennedy Assasination too right?
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that comment was directed to Enough!
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What an ignorant thing to say. Trying to turn reality into a conspiracy theory accusation. You can keep denying these things, but that doesn't make them go away!
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He is also a graduate of USUHS and a member of the US Army which means...what? Still, I groaned when he was linked to our alma mater. Prayers for the victims and their families.
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I graduated from UVa.
I also attended Tech for over a year.
I don't believe for a second that people "snap" and after a life of no
mental abnormalities, suddenly go on
a shocking spree of deadly violence.
I wonder if he also had "incidents" at Virginia Tech that could have followed him in to the military, but due to confidentiality laws, the school was not allowed to disclose them to the military?
I wouldn't blame anyone at Tech for anything:
it's the law that prevent administrators and
health care professionals from releasing
information that could save lives!!
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No one is blaming for VA TECH for Ft Hood Shooting. That's an Army issue...
But VT needs a major house cleaning as sometimes the vermin invade the pantry and contaminate the grain.
The military is prescribing anti psychotics to soldiers while in the states and then sending them back to the war and telling them they don't have those drugs in theater when they go to refill. So they go cold turkey a big no no with those drugs and shoot themselves and others. Then the military classifies it as a non hostile death so they don't get sued.
Smell that coffee yet...............
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I was in the Corps and in Army ROTC during the shooters time but I do not recall him as an upperclassmen - doesn't mean he wasn't in the Corps, but odd that I wouldn't recall him in Army ROTC.
I don't support or deny "Enough's" comments but I will say I have seen my fair share of cover-ups in my time as an Army Officer. Some were for the greater good - some were to hide a very embarrassing situation concerning field grade officers behavior. So I would echo Enough's rule "Don't believe anything you read or hear and only half of what you see" as we never need to become a society of blind trust - but yet not so paranoid we have no faith in our fellow humans.
I just wonder how anyone ever thinks it is okay to start shooting random bystanders for ANY reason - life is not a video game with a reset button.
End of rambling.
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I concur VT Alum 97...
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Looks like he wasn't in the Corps as other media had been reporting:
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/14617/alleged-fort-hood-shooter-was-not-in-corps-of-cadets
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Thanks, it would have been strange that he went through with me in Army ROTC and I not remember the name at least.
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Regardless as to whether he attended VT or not, the issue is he had deep, deep problems and it manifested itself in this horrific manner. Our concerns should be (1) for the victims and (2) for people with similar problems who desperately need help.
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I left out a very relevant and recent event on the VT campus last year.
A Chinese Muslim beheaded a female friend.
We also have a Muslim President (self confessed) who stated in a speech in Turkey earlier this year the US is a Muslim nation.
The coffee is getting quite aromatic isn't it?
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Oh my gosh! How you can so easily distort things!
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Just the facts Ma'am. just the facts.
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I love VT and spent many fond years there during my collegiate years... but this is starting to become just too much to defend. How can so many violent acts, including two mass shootings by VT alums within 2 years, be overlooked? Stuff like this does not happen at other campuses. I thought Blacksburg was the safest place on earth, but really, how many more psycho murderers is that place going to produce??? I am embarrased to tell people of my connection to the school because now instead of commenting on what a great football program we have or the academic reputation, people immediately associate the place with violence and murder.
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Embarrassed? I am embarrassed that you, an alumna of Virginia Tech are embarrassed of the fantastic school you attended. Virginia Tech is under a microscope and will be for quite some time because of what has happened. Major crimes happen constantly at colleges across the country - the media just doesn't have reason to bring them up like they do Virginia Tech. Those stories wouldn't be sensational. The attitude you are showing is exactly the attitude we need to stop. I would have thought that change would come from the people that know VT best. Virginia Tech does not breed or produce violent people. Absurd.
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I don't think we (VT) produce these psychos - but think of how much closer you are to the mass murders of Cho, the beheading on campus, the Caldwell murders - I am a long time ago grad and that stuff is stuck in my head.
Maybe when these psychos snap, they replicate the horrors closest to them.
If you were a psycho that happened to attend VT and finally snapped - would you dream up some new murderous plot or just default to copying a massacre that you are familiar with?
I am pretty sure I didn't take a class "1004: Becoming a Psycho"
If you are ashamed of VT, you can always leave and enroll in another school and might be the best option for you Erin.
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Oops! I should read more carefully as Erin is an Alumna.
Strike my comment on leaving VT, but feel free to return your VT diploma as ask that it be removed from your academic record - that may help you feel better Erin. You could send all your VT gear to Goodwill and really "cleanse" your conscience.
Just may need to tell your employer that you no longer hold a college degree.
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Anon - that is ridiculous to tell people to leave if they don't like your way of thinking. What ever happened to debate? Divergent views? I know life would be easier if everyone who didn't agree with you would just leave, but we would also not be a free country had those few stood up and fought for what they knew was right.
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I live east of Blacksburg. I attended a college quite different from VT, but have always been amazed at Tech's ability to maintain such high standards (and produce such quality graduates) for so large a university. It may be possible that in the past half generation VT has become too consumed with SAT scores and GPA's. The Greek academy was as concerned with the "whole person" as with pure candle power. The country's great colleges spend a fair amount of time interviewing, assessing non-academic attributes and generally getting to know candidates for admission. Is it possible that having the right stats means automatic admission to Tech irrespective of whether the candidate is a patent loser or worse?
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Wow, using tragedy to take a weak swipe at Obama, that's classy (and relevant). Bet you don't think he's a valid US citizen either, do ya?
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Well, your "enough is enough, don't trust everything you hear" attitude - however right it is - just got blown out the window. The media has been all over the issue, and President Obama is not a Muslim. It's clearly evident that you care more about conspiracy than fact, even when you profess an attitude of conscientious distrust of authority.
Move along, everyone, move along. These are not the droids you're looking for.
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Wow, you really are a pathetic troll. When did they get the internet in the trailer park? By the way, if you are looking for birth certificates, John McCain was born in Panama, so there ya go.
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What do his comments have to do with McCain?
@enough! - thanks for bringing reality to life here, albeit off-topic it still is important for people to at least think about it. those who deny it can sign themselves into the FEMA camps ;)
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I think people are reading way too much into this. From my experience it would seem his fear of being sent to a combat zone, his anger at the government and superiors and his understanding of psychology allowed him, in his mind to justify his actions. I am willing to bet he hoped to die in the attack while "righting" a perceived injustice against him by the government and officers for forcing him to be deployed.
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Spot on Lt. Col. - I knew a lot of my soldiers had a deep fear of deployment or even the 1 year unaccompanied duty station in Korea. Now imagine your of that same mentality and instead of Korea, it is an actual combat zone.
I will tell you this, I have seen that a very, very small percentage of soldiers are capable of doing some absolutely jaw dropping crazy things during peacetime, stuff that just baffles your brain and sense of reason, so I can't imagine what it is like for these same "screw loose" Joes in a very active fighting force.
The guy probably though he was "safe" from deployment in his field of work, gets his orders, freaks out and feels that there is no way out. I just wish he had talked to his commander first - I mean spell it all out, tell them I feel like taking my guns and killing myself and as many others in the process to avoid deployment - there is always a way out - even if it means a mental separation from the Army - way better than killing people/yourself.
If I had to bet the Major's motives - my money is with Lt. Col Doe.
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Thanks for the thoughtful commentary from a viewpoint that my fellow civilians and I cannot really fathom.
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And I guess the State Police, Secret Service or FBI will be coming to take me away soon huh. Spreading too much truth!
Sacrifices for my country and it's citizens must be made...............
The truth will set you free
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Show me the Birth Certificate.
But remember, I don't believe anything I read or hear and only half of what I see.
And where is the swipe? Is there something wrong with being Muslim or a Muslim nation?
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Alleged shooter...? Pretty damn sure he WAS THE SHOOTER. Someone should check and see if he was around Caldwell Fields this past summer.
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Hasn't been bad for his wallet either....
And if he dosen't know what his palyers are up to and about the museum to Vick maybe he ain't doin his JOB
Everybody in the country watched the vulgarity of Vick and his cronies, why wouldn' t Beamer Inc. know?
Truth is hard I understand. Not everyone can handle it. But that's why you came to college, right? To expand your mind and reason with logic.
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