US Army soldiers testifying in the court-martial of Major Nidal Hasan for the 2009 shooting spree that killed 13 and wounded more than 30 at Fort Hood, Texas, on Monday described carnage and confusion usually reserved for live combat.
Hasan, 42, has admitted to shooting his fellow soldiers, saying he switched sides in what he called a US war on Islam, and he could face the death penalty if convicted.
“I could hear people screaming, brass hitting the ground. I could smell the smoke,” testified retired Lieutenant-Colonel Randy Royer, a major at the time who was shot in the leg and arm.
“I could see all the blood, the crumpled uniforms ... shell casings. It was just carnage,” added Royer, who used a cane to steady himself in court.
More than Sixty witnesses have taken the stand to describe the attack inside a medical facility at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, days before Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and US-born Muslim, was due to be deployed to Afghanistan.
“Hell broke loose,” said Staff Sergeant Christopher Burgess, who described gunfire following him every time he and a group of people moved, trying to escape the building.
