Fort Hood shooter sentenced to death

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan was sentenced to death Wednesday for the killing of 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.

{mosads}Thirteen military officers debated for just over two hours before returning the sentence.

The same jury convicted Hasan on Aug. 23 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of premeditated attempted murder.

Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, served as his own attorney throughout his trial and sentencing phase. 

Hasan admitted from the outset that he was the Fort Hood shooter and took very little action in his defense. He questioned only a handful of the prosecution’s witnesses and called no witnesses on his own behalf while declining to contest the prosecution’s claims or deliver a closing statement. 

He similarly declined to make any case during the sentencing phase.

During a statement to a panel of military mental health experts in 2010, Hasan, a Muslim, said that he would welcome a death sentence, as it would allow him to die a martyr. 

He said that he carried out the shooting to wage jihad against America for its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The shooting came one month before Hasan was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan. 

Updated at 3:31 p.m.