As the pretrial hearing of Major Nidal Malik Hassan entered its second day, the court began hearing testimonies from the eyewitnesses. Dozens of people who witnessed the bloody carnage on November 5th, 2009 gave chilling accounts of horror. The scene painted by numerous witnesses was that of utter chaos and terror as helpless and unarmed soldiers were killed ruthlessly as they jumped out of windows and clawed over each other in a rush towards safety.
Sgt. Alonzo M. Lunsford Jr., one of the strongest witnesses of the prosecution, who was shot five times, was able to identify the gunman positively as Maj. Hassan. Sgt. Lunsford had met Maj. Hassan several times prior to this incident. On the morning of the fateful incident, too, he had noticed Maj. Hassnan waiting among other soldiers for medical examinations. Maj. Hassan suddenly began to shout “God is great” in Arabic according to Sgt. Lunsford. Moments later he took out the handgun he had purchased recently and started shooting in the crowded medical processing centre.
Another moving account of events came from Michelle Harper, a civilian Army employee. Michelle was the person who eventually made the call to 911. The soft spoken Michelle broke down during the proceedings while listening to the replay of the call she made while the shooting was going on. She describes moments of terror, when she saw the gunman’s boots as she lay hidden under bodies.
The pretrial hearing or Article 32 is overseen by Col. James L. Pohl, the investigating officer. Col. Pohl will decide whether Maj. Hassan will face court martial and eventual death penalty. His motives will not be explored in the pretrial hearing.
The November 5th shooting was the worst in the recent history of America’s armed forces. This had led to some alarm among the administration as to possible infiltration of terrorists into the military bases. However, investigation has not led to any definite link between Maj. Hassan and terrorist groups.
