The U.S. military has set December 3, 2026, as the execution date for former Army Major Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people during a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood. The sentence will be carried out by firing squad at the same base where the massacre occurred, according to an email notification sent to the families of the victims.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced late Monday that the method was recommended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and approved by President Donald Trump. “Judgement day for Hasan has finally come,” Parnell wrote.
This execution marks a significant milestone in military justice history. The last military execution took place 65 years ago in 1961, when the Army executed Pvt. John Bennett by hanging following his conviction for rape and attempted murder. The most recent execution by firing squad occurred during World War II, when Pvt. Eddie Slovik was put to death in France for desertion.
Hasan, now 56, served as an Army psychiatrist and completed two decades of service before the attack on November 5, 2009. Witnesses reported hearing him shout “Allahu Akbar” before he opened fire on unarmed soldiers preparing for deployment at the readiness center. Hasan fired 146 shots, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others before being paralyzed from the chest down by returning police fire. He has been held on death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas since his conviction.
Under Army Regulation 190-55, military executions require presidential approval. A 2019 revision removed the specific mention of lethal injection from the regulation, leaving the choice of execution method to the Secretary of the Army. Typically, the provost marshal general recommends the method to the secretary. Upon notification of the president’s decision, which must be delivered in person by the commandant accompanied by a chaplain and defense attorney if available, the prisoner is designated as a “condemned prisoner.”
Family members of the victims were notified prior to the public announcement and were asked whether they wished to attend the execution. The survivors and families, bonded by tragedy over the past 17 years, view this scheduled execution as the final chapter in a long and painful story.
The 13 victims who died in the attack are identified as follows:
- Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, 55
- Maj. Libardo Eduardo Caraveo, 52
- Capt. John P. Gaffaney, 56
- Capt. Russell Seager, 51
- Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow, 32
- Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29
- Spc. Jason Dean Hunt, 22
- Spc. Frederick Z. Greene, 29
- Pfc. Aaron T. Nemelka, 19
- Pfc. Michael S. Pearson, 22
- Pfc. Kham S. Xiong, 23
- Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21 (and her unborn child)
- Michael Grant Cahill, 62
This is a developing story, and additional details will be provided as they become available.
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Thirteen lives taken, thirty-two wounded. The scale of this tragedy feels impossible to truly resolve with any sentence.
Firing squad again? I didn’t realize that method was still even on the table for modern military justice.
Sixty-five years gap between executions is historic. Hope this brings the closure the families desperately need after all this time.