Fort Hood shooter to be executed by firing squad – a first for US military since World War Two

The Pentagon announced that a former U.S. Army major will be executed by firing squad, the first military execution since World War II.

Former senior officer Nidal Hasan fatally shot 13 unarmed U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, wounding a total of 32 others.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell disclosed that defense secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended the measure, which President Donald Trump subsequently endorsed.

The execution is scheduled for 3 December at Fort Hood in Texas and will be the first firing‑squad execution by the armed forces in over six decades.

“Judgment day for Hasan has finally come,” Parnell wrote on X.

Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist from Virginia, carried out the attack and later testified that he acted in an attempt to protect Muslim civilians and Afghans against the Taliban.

On review in 2013, Hasan pleaded guilty in his court‑martial and expressed regret for his actions.

The case involves four men on the military’s death row who are awaiting execution. A military death comes only after presidential approval, an appellate review, and a final legal determination.

Historically, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled the military death penalty unconstitutional in 1983, but an executive order under President Ronald Reagan restored it the following year.

While most capital executions occur at the state level across 27 states, the military and federal government retain the authority to practice lethal force when justified.

Firing‑squad executions are rare; the latest such event in the nation took place in South Carolina last year, ending a fifteen‑year gap. Four other states—Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah—also permit the technique.

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