FORT HOOD, Texas – The pop-pop-pop of gunfire, groans of a dying soldier and wailing from terrified survivors riveted a military courtroom Wednesday as Army prosecutors played a 911 tape of last November’s massacre at a soldier-readiness center.
Eight witnesses gave graphic descriptions of the chaos unleashed when Army Maj. Nidal Hasan opened fire in the worst attack ever on an American military installation. Several recalled hearing a shout of “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great,” just before the melee began.
“I looked at [Hasan] and was wondering, ‘Why would he say Allahu akbar?'” testified the first prosecution witness, Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford. Within seconds, the sergeant added, Hasan pulled a pistol from his combat uniform and began shooting.
The dramatic testimony and the six-minute 911 recording were presented during the second day of Hasan’s probable cause proceeding, known as an Article 32 hearing.