U.S. Army may seek death penalty against suspect in Fort Hood shooting: attorney

U.S. military prosecutors may seek the death penalty against an Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army base, a defense attorney said Wednesday.

John Galligan, attorney of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 shooting at Fort Hood, said he received a notice Wednesday from the Army.

Galligan said the notice outlined an aggravating factor that more than one person was killed in the same incident, which military law experts say is the Army's way of indicating it plans to seek the death penalty.

Under military law, if military jurors were to convict Hasan, they could sentence him to death only if they found that there was an aggravating factor in the case.

Hasan, 39, allegedly opened fire with two handguns on unarmed soldiers who were preparing for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan at a soldier readiness area at Fort Hood, the country' s largest military installation.

The shooting spree, which left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded, has been described as the deadliest mass shooting at a U. S. military installation.

Source:Xinhua