ABC 7 News

Saturday 4:23 am

home | news | weather | sports

More Speak about Alleged Shooter


More people who know Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan are speaking out about his life before, police say, he opened fire on an Army post.
Throughout the day we've heard the same comment over and over again from Roanoke where Hasan graduated high school from the mosque where he prayed and from a relative who lives overseas that Hasan is a quiet man who keeps to himself. As for the family, they say they are cooperating with the FBI and that Hasan's actions were deplorable. Thirty-nine-year-old Hasan is single and doesn't have children but he does have lots of relatives. Several of them are in the Northern Virginia area where the Army Major was born. When we knocked, no one answered the door at his cousin's home in Falls Church. Thursday night, the family talked to police and Friday they released a statement, saying, "Our family is filled with grief for the victims. We are all asking why this happened. The answer is that we simply do not know." "I feel sorry for them. It's terrible. They don't want anybody to go through that. I want to stay out of their way because they are obviously grieving," said neighbor David Rodriguez. Hasan graduated from Virginia Tech studied psychiatry at Walter Reed Hospital. A devout Muslim of Palestinian descent, he regularly prayed at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring. "All I know is how proud he was to be serving in the military as a Muslim," stated Dr. Asif Quadry. Hasan was assigned to Ft. Hood this summer. Another cousin who watched the events of the shooting rampage from half a world away in Ramallah said he was in utter shock and explained Hassan said he was being harrassed on the base. "He had already told his brother he wanted to leave because they bother him. They don't respect him because he is a Muslim," said cousin Hamid Hasan. Neighbors in Texas said Hasan gave them copies of the Quran in the days leading up to the mass killing and that morning called several to say "it was nice knowing you" and gave away all of his furniture. Relatives say Hasan had hired a lawyer to help him get out of the Army. According to a police report, a soldier was arrested for scratching Hasan's car and ripping up his bumper sticker that read "Allah is love."


Return to main page