Fort Hood Shooter Found Guilty of Premeditated Murder

A jury has found Maj. Nidal Hasan guilty of premeditated murder for the Fort Hood shooting in 2009. This means that Hasan is now eligible for the death penalty. His military base shooting rampage killed 13 people and injured 39.

Hasan, an American-born Muslim, acted as his own attorney during the trial, and presented almost no defense save for a brief opening statement, in which he said the evidence would "clearly show" he was the shooter. He has written letters to media outlets expressing that his shooting was necessary to protect Muslim insurgents abroad from American soldiers. (Hasan purchased a gun and practiced at an off-base gun range after he learned he would be deployed to Afghanistan.)

The jury will now decide his fate in terms of sentencing. Prosecutors are pushing for the death penalty, and military attorneys assigned to Hasan (who have been on standby during the trial) suggested that Hasan wants to be put to death. An active-duty U.S. soldier hasn't been executed by the military court system since 1961.