Fort Hood Survivor Vows to Attend Nidal Hasan's Execution

An Army sergeant who survived being shot seven times during the 2009 Fort Hood massacre plans to attend the public execution of the perpetrator, Nidal Hasan. Alonzo Lunsford, who retired from the military in 2013, told the BBC that he intends to be present to "look at him in his eyes" before the firing squad carries out the sentence.

Hasan, a former Army major, killed 13 unarmed soldiers and wounded dozens more on November 5, 2009, in one of the deadliest mass shootings at a U.S. military installation. He shouted "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," as he opened fire in a medical building.

Lunsford stated that he wants Hasan to know that he "failed" and that Lunsford is "still here." He added, "I don’t really have any sympathy for him." Lunsford recounted playing dead after being shot seven times, including in the back, and hearing the screams of other victims, including pregnant Private Francheska Velez, 21, who was killed.

Lunsford described Hasan's actions as taking "the coward’s way out." He believes a public firing squad execution is a "fitting" punishment, arguing that other methods like lethal injection or the gas chamber would be too compassionate for the severity of the crime.

Hasan was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He has been on death row since August 2013. Law enforcement officers shot Hasan during the attack, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

The execution, if carried out as planned, would be the first public execution by firing squad in the U.S. in nearly a century. The last military execution in the U.S. occurred on April 13, 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was executed by hanging. Experts suggest that Hasan's execution could potentially be delayed beyond the 2028 presidential election, depending on potential appeals and the stance of future administrations.