US Army to execute Texas military base shooter by firing squad

The United States Army has scheduled the execution of former Army Major Nidal Hasan, who was convicted over the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people and wounded 32 others.

According to an execution order signed by Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle and dated October 6, 2026, Hasan will be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas, on December 3, 2026.

The execution is scheduled for 1pm Central Standard Time.

The order was issued after US President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s death sentence on October 2.

“On 2 October 2026, the President of the United States, in the enclosed action, approved the sentence of death adjudged in the case of United States v. Major Hasan, Nidal M.,” the memorandum stated.
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“This execution will take place at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday, 3 December 2026, at 1300 Central Standard Time, by firing squad, in accordance with AR 190-55,” it added.

The Commandant of the United States Disciplinary Barracks will serve as the execution officer, according to the order.

The development follows Trump’s approval of the military execution earlier this week.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell had announced that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the execution and Trump approved it.

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“Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended — and President Donald J. Trump has approved — death by US Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan.

“The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution,” Parnell said.

Hasan was convicted by a military jury in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder over the November 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood.

He opened fire at a medical facility at the Texas military base, where soldiers were undergoing processing for deployment, killing 13 people and injuring 32 others.

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist at the time, was sentenced to death after the trial.

He would become the first member of the US military to be executed since 1961 if the sentence is carried out.

Military executions are rare in the United States and require presidential approval under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The last US military execution took place in 1961, while the last known execution of a US military prisoner by firing squad was carried out in 1945, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Fawzi Kehinde

Fawzi is a journalist and subeditor covering a wide range of beats including politics, metro, and international news, among others. He also optimises stories for digital audiences.

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