Fort Hood shooter to be executed by firing squad: All to know

What the report says

US President Donald Trump has approved the execution of former Army officer Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad, according to Al Jazeera, moving a long-delayed military death-penalty case toward an unusual and highly unusual method of execution. Hasan was convicted for the 2009 attack at Fort Hood, a US Army base in Texas, and the decision could restart a form of punishment the military has not used since 1961.

Al Jazeera reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had already recommended the execution order, and that Army Secretary Adam Telle, currently serving in an acting role, will determine the date and time. The article says military executions require presidential approval and that Hasan remains in military custody at the US Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The Fort Hood shooting took place on November 5, 2009, when Hasan, then an Army psychiatrist, opened fire at a processing center on the base. Thirteen people were killed and 32 were wounded. Hasan was tried by court-martial, represented himself, and was later convicted on 13 counts of premeditated murder in 2013, with jurors recommending death.

The case has moved slowly through military and civilian review, including appeals that upheld the sentence and a Supreme Court refusal to intervene in 2025. Beyond the immediate case, the development highlights the military’s rare use of capital punishment and the limited number of prisoners currently on military death row.