(RTTNews) - Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the main suspect in last week's shooting at Fort Hood, a U.S. military base in Texas, has been charged with thirteen counts of premeditated murder, a U.S. Army investigator said Thursday.

"U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with 13 specifications of premeditated murder under the military code of justice," army's criminal investigation division spokesman Chris Grey said at a news conference.

Grey added that further charges may be filed against Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people and injuring 31 others in a shooting spree at the Fort Hood military base in Texas on 5th November.

Initial FBI investigations into the incident indicated that Hasan "acted alone and was not part of a broader terrorist plot." Witnesses say that Hasan, a US-born Muslim and army psychiatrist, opened fire at his colleagues at the base without provocation.
Hasan was later admitted to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, after being shot four times by civilian police personnel, and is currently undergoing treatment at the hospital under armed guard. He has since regained consciousness, but has refused to speak to army investigators.

Fifteen of those injured in Thursday's shooting are still undergoing treatment at the army hospital, with eight patients in intensive care. Though the motives behind Hasan's sudden violent behavior is not yet clear, earlier reports indicated that he opposed his imminent deployment to Afghanistan, and wanted to leave the army.

Earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama had described Thursday's shooting incident as a "horrific outburst of violence." He also ordered a review on Wednesday after US intelligence authorities indicated they knew Hasan had contacted a radical Islamic cleric sympathetic to al-Qaeda.

Obama also attended a memorial service held Tuesday for the victims of the attack, and paid tributes to those killed in the incident. The U.S. President also met privately with the wounded and families of the victims, along with his wife Michelle Obama, and promised that the "killer will be met with justice."

by RTT Staff Writer

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