One soldier shot 12 times by Fort Hood gunman, medical expert testifies

FORT HOOD, Texas One of the soldiers killed during the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood suffered a dozen gunshot wounds, including some that indicate he was trying to charge the gunman, a medical expert testified Thursday.

Spc. Frederick Greene was among 13 people killed when a gunman opened fire inside a crowded medical building at the sprawling Army post in Texas on Nov. 5, 2009. The accused shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, is also accused of wounding more than 30 people during what remains the worst mass shooting ever on a U.S. military base.

The bullet wounds that riddled Greene's body were "consistent" with him trying to charge his attacker, Lt. Col. Phillip Berran told the judge overseeing Hasan's military trial at Fort Hood. The pathologist had reviewed photos of Greene's body before jurors were led into the courtroom.

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Berran later testified that another victim, Pfc. Aaron Nemelka, was shot three times and that his wounds were consistent with being shot while lying on the ground.

Nemelka was among at least five victims who were shot while lying down, according to testimony from several pathologists this week. Among those victims was the lone civilian killed in the attack, physician's assistant Michael Grant Cahill, who witnesses said tried to charge Hasan during the shootings armed only with a chair.

Hasan — who is acting as his own attorney — raised no objections and didn't question any of the witnesses Thursday, which has largely been his strategy since the trial began last week. The Army psychiatrist's lack of defense so far has allowed prosecutors to call more than 60 witnesses, indicating that the trial could wrap up far sooner than the months-long timeline originally announced by the judge.

The military defense attorneys who have been ordered to help Hasan during the trial have accused Hasan of trying to convince jurors to convict him and sentence him to death. Hasan has disputed those claims, calling them a twist of the facts.

But he recently authorized the release of a report that shows he told military mental health experts after the attack that he "would still be a martyr" if he were convicted and executed by the government. The report was released by Hasan's civil attorney to the New York Times, which posted it online, but prosecutors were ordered by the judge not to read it.

If convicted, Hasan could face the death penalty.