The man suspected of a deadly rampage Thursday at Fort Hood was a military psychiatrist whose had turned against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but was about to be sent overseas, his cousin told Fox News.
Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, wanted to be released from the military before he was set to be deployed overseas, and he even had hired a military lawyer to assist his efforts, according to the cousin, Nader Hasan.
Hasan was in stable condition at a local hospital Thursday night, after previous reports said he was killed at the scene.
His family was in shock Thursday night, Nader Hasan told Fox News.
"We are trying to make sense of all this," he said. "He wasn't even someone who enjoyed going to the firing range."
Maj. Hasan was working with soldiers at Darnall Army Medical Center on Fort Hood after being transferred in July from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he had worked for six years before getting a bad review.
Hasan, who was born and raised in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech University, turned against the wars after hearing the stories of those who came back from Afghanistan and Iraq, Nader Hasan said.
Maj. Hasan, raised a Muslim, had wanted to go into the military against his parent's wishes, but he was taunted by others after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, his cousin said.
A former Fort Hood colleague of the shooter said Hasan would frequently make "outlandish" comments.
"He said maybe Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor," retired Col. Terry Lee told Fox News. "At first we thought he meant help the armed forces, but apparently that wasn't the case. Other times he would make comments we shouldn't be in the war in the first place."
Hasan had been optimistic that President Obama would start pulling troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, Lee said, but when that didn't happen as quickly as he hoped, Hasan became angry.
"He was sort of a loner and kept to himself," Lee told Fox News. "He didn't socialize a lot with officers off duty or on duty."
At Virginia Tech University, Hasan he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1997.
A former neighbor of Hasan's in Silver Spring, Md. told Fox News he lived there for two years with his brother and had the word "Allah" on the door.
She said the FBI interviewed her this afternoon, adding she used to see a woman and a 3-year-old girl coming and going.
He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.
At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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