Posted on 11/06/2009 5:30:04 AM PST by Saije
Witnesses to Thursday's massacre at Fort Hood said alleged shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was calm as he opened fire at a crowd of young soldiers, pausing only to reload before he was taken down by a female officer that many hailed today as a hero.
"It was very deliberate in his approach, they said that he was calm," Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, the base commander at Fort Hood, told "Good Morning America" today. "Several soldiers shot multiple times and were recounting how they were shot."
The attacker killed 13 people, mostly military, and wounded 30. The Fort Hood Web site today addressed the tragedy with a line reading, "Friday is Day of Mourning! -- The duty day will begin no earlier than 0900."
Sgt. Salvatore "Rico" Sanchez told "Good Morning America" today that he treated a captain who was nearby when the shooting started. Covered with blood that wasn't his own, the captain escaped unscathed, with only a mild case of shock.
"According to the captain that I was treating, [Hasan] was sitting down and he just stood up out of nowhere and started shooting," Sanchez said.
As the sound of gunfire erupted, Sanchez said he heard people yelling to call 911 and "all kinds of cries for help."
Cone said wounded first responder Sgt. Kimberly Munley, who exchanged gunfire with Hasan and managed to shoot him four times despite being shot herself, put a stop to the carnage with her quick thinking and willingness to go head-to-head with the gun-wielding officer.
"She was quite effective, one of our most impressive young policemen," Cone said. "She walked up and basically engaged him. I think, certainly, this could've been far worse."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I understand your sentiment that they should have fought back, but considering the time frame evolved, the lack of high 'situational awareness' of the environment, and the lack of coordinated counter response at hand, there was no other way for it to play out.
As to training the entire military to some SF level, it can be done but the cost would be a little high and unless everyone practiced everyday to be a warrior you still end up with a similar outcome.
The bastard didn't choose one of the many live ranges to exact his vengeance, he selected a undefended and helpless population. Typical muslimb tactic.
My job requires I carry and I carry when off duty, all the time. I avoid areas that require I disarm myself whenever possible. I always try to have a high situational awareness level, and I know that I can still be the first person shot dead by the first shot fired. If I'm not, there will be a 'sign of a struggle' at the scene.
Just saying that it is easy for you and I to make comments one side or the other because we have the benefit of not being there at the time.
My comment had nothing to do with getting rid of military courts...the federal death penalty is contingent upon the state where the crime occurred. I don’t know if that also applies to military courts but it does to civilian courts. Were he to be so charged, it is nice knowing he is going the way of the gurney quickly.
Vince
It is easier to get men to do ugly and scary things.
There is a subset of women that can do the job but they are generally too smart to do the kinds of things you can get 18 year old men to do.
Just my observations after being there and doing that.
That being said, the woman who put her life on the line and got 4 shots into the terrorist is more than a credit to her gender, she is a credit to the US Army and the US of A. God bless her!
Maybe, but there are some branches in the Army that are NOT combat arms. For example, there are branches for medical, civil affairs, finance, and legal personnel. After basic training, personnel in these branches receive little if any combat training. I am curious to know the branch(es) of the victims.
May be true in a shootout, but women are generally weaker, so they are inferior in any contest involving physical endurance or hand-to-hand combat.
She wasn’t in the army. She was from the local police department.
I thought she was an MP, well she’s still a great American.
>> As to training the entire military to some SF level, it can be done but the cost would be a little high and unless everyone practiced everyday to be a warrior you still end up with a similar outcome. <<
Why not train everybody the way one of the Texas school districts wanted to do last year, after the massacre of the Amish school girls? That is, educate all personnel to throw everything possible at a shooter, distract him to the max, and rush him. Why would that kind of training have a high cost? And why not practice just as you’d practice fire drills?
I think we should douse all our bullets in bacon grease ... just in case.....
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