Former Fort Hood Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan will be executed by firing squad, the Pentagon has announced.
“Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended — and President Donald J. Trump has approved — death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote in an Oct. 5 post on X. “He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the attack.”
“The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution,” Parnell wrote. “Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.”
Hasan’s execution would be the first U.S. military execution in more than 50 years and the first military execution by firing squad since World War II, according to CNN and NBC News. He is also one of four prisoners on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the Associated Press reported.
In March 2025, South Carolina executed convicted killer Brad Sigmon by firing squad, the Associated Press reported. It was the first time the method had been used in the United States in 15 years.
An attorney who previously represented Hasan did not immediately respond to Oxygen’s request for comment.
What Crime Did Nidal Hasan Commit?
Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist stationed at Fort Hood, carried out a “shooting rampage” at the Texas installation’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center, prosecutors wrote in a 2022 government appellate brief reviewed by Oxygen.
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He killed 13 people—12 U.S. Army soldiers and one civilian employee—and attempted to kill 32 others. Prosecutors said he continued firing until authorities shot him.
According to the appellate brief, Hasan wanted to avoid being deployed to Afghanistan and described the war as “America’s war on Islam.” He had previously told a coworker words to the effect of, “If they deploy me…they will pay.”
Hasan later visited a gun store and requested “the most technologically advanced handgun on the market.” He also asked the clerk to attach a laser sight to the weapon, the brief stated.
On Nov. 5, 2009, several weeks after receiving his deployment orders, Hasan entered the Soldier Readiness Processing building wearing his Army uniform and carrying 400 rounds of ammunition, according to the brief. He opened fire while shouting “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic phrase meaning “God is Greater.” When people attempted to confront him with a chair, he shot and killed them, the brief said.
Hasan was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. The brief said he submitted offers to plead guilty, withdrawing one while a military judge rejected the other. A judge later entered not guilty pleas on his behalf, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Hasan represented himself during his 2013 trial. In his opening statement, he said, in part, according to the brief, “The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter. And the dead bodies will testify that war is an ugly thing.”
Hasan was convicted on all charges and sentenced to death.