Sunday, November 15, 2009

Fort Hood suspect may be paralyzed

The accused Fort Hood gunman has no feeling in his legs and may be paralyzed from the waist down, his attorney said Friday after visiting Maj. Nidal M. Hasan in his hospital room.

Retired Col. John Galligan, who has been hired by Hasan's family to defend him against murder charges, said the Army psychiatrist remains in the intensive care unit of a San Antonio military hospital, where he is in great pain, except for his legs.

"When I grabbed his leg, there was no feeling," Galligan said in an interview in his office here. He said he joined his military co-counsel, Maj. Christopher E. Martin, and a relative of Hasan in a sequence of visits Thursday night that lasted about an hour.

"Tears welled up in his eyes when his relative was there," Galligan said, declining to identify the relation for privacy reasons. "He is still very confused. He's not sitting up and carrying on conversations. His attention span is . . . limited."

Hasan was shot four times by civilian police during a Nov. 5 attack at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead and scores wounded. Army prosecutors charged him this week with premeditated murder. He allegedly opened fire on his unarmed victims with two handguns, taking more than 100 shots before he was stopped.

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