Ft. Hood Commander: Man suspected in shooting carried out 'very calm and measured' rampage

Ben Sklar, Getty/afp - Getty Images

Sgt. Fanuaee Vea, left, comforts Pvt. Savannah Green outside Fort Hood on Thursday.

Associated Press

Last update: November 6, 2009 - 6:34 AM

WASHINGTON - The base commander at Fort Hood says survivors of the shooting rampage have told him that the Army psychiatrist suspected in the violence carried out his gunfire in "a very calm and measured approach."

Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said in a nationally broadcast interview Friday that authorities have not yet been able to talk to the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who survived and hospitalized on a ventilator.

Cone said some 300 soldiers were lined up to get shots and eye-testing at a Soldier Readiness Center when the shots rang out, killing 13 and injuring 30 others. Cone said one soldier who had been shot told him, 'I made the mistake of moving and I was shot again.' " The general said survivors told him that during the rampage, soldiers "would scramble to the ground and help each other out."

Cone appeared on CBS's "The Early Show."

Recent Nation stories

Lethal injection creator fine with Ohio's 1-drug plan, says number of chemicals doesn't matter - November 6, 2009

Lethal injection creator fine with Ohio's 1-drug plan, says number of chemicals doesn't matter - The man considered the father of lethal injection in the United States said it doesn't matter whether three fatal drugs are used or one — as his home state of Ohio has proposed — as long as the drug works efficiently. More