From our paper.
FORT HOOD, Texas _ The opening day of testimony in the pretrial hearing for Maj. Nidal Hasan was emotional and detailed, with many of the wounded speaking about the shooting publicly for the first time.
One soldier who had been shot five times intensely stared down Hasan, locking eyes with him repeatedly. A medical technician broke down when her 911 call was played and had to leave the courtroom. Another soldier talked about having PTSD and needing anger management courses.
Here are some of the quotes that stuck with me throughout the day:
Hasan had "a piercing gaze with eyes."
- Pfc. George Stratton, who was shot in the shoulder
"I heard 'Allahu Akbar,' looked over my shoulder and there was the major with a weapon."
- Spc. James Armstrong, who was shot in the leg and back
"We looked eye to eye and he just shot me."
- Retired Staff Sgt. Alvin Howard, who was shot in the shoulder
"I noticed the weapon he was firing had an infrared beam, like a laser site on the weapon."
- Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot five times
"He went down to the area where soldiers are sitting, where soldiers are scrambling trying to find some kind of cover."
- Lunsford about who Hasan targeted first
"I heard loud gunfire right in my ears. It was just round after round. Pop, pop, pop, pop."
- Stratton
"He looked at me and I looked at him. He raised the weapon and pointed at me, and the laser came across my line of sight. I closed my eyes."
- Lunsford said about right before he was shot in the head.
"He's one of ours! He's one of ours!"
- Lunsford said a lieutenant helping him screamed about Hasan
"The worst horror movie you could possibly ever see. Bloody hand prints on the walls from people trying to get up. Pools of blood on the floor."
- Armstrong said about the scene in the building after the shooting
