Washington: The death toll left by an Army psychiatrist who went on a shooting rampage at a U.S. military base in Texas rose to 13 on Friday, US media reported.
Suspected gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire with two handguns at the Fort Hood Army post on Thursday, in one of the worst killing sprees ever reported on a US military base, army officials said.
A woman died overnight from gunshot wounds, raising the toll to 13 dead and 30 wounded, CNN reported.
Hasan, who was shot several times, was unconscious but in stable condition and on a ventilator, CNN said.
In a press conference by the US Army, Colonel John Rossi and his colleague refused to divulge any details about the lone shooter and simply said that investigators would be quizzing him and that at this stage there was no information.
They added that all the wounded were in a stable condition in the hospital and behavioural health teams were being deployed to monitor them.
Lieutenant-General Robert Cone, Fort Hood's commanding officer, told CNN that the FBI and military forensic experts were investigating the shooting.
The Army said the lone gunman opened fire at the Soldiers Readiness Processing Center, a group of buildings where soldiers were getting medical check-ups before leaving for overseas deployments.
Cone said the gunman had two weapons, one of them a semi-automatic. He said there was no indication that they were military weapons and the evidence does not suggest the shooting was a terrorist attack.
Hasan, 39, is a military-trained psychiatrist who had treated soldiers wounded in war or were preparing at the post for foreign deployment.
The U.S.-born Muslim is the son of Palestinian immigrants and was raised in Virginia. He served as a psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., which treats many badly wounded troops.
A cousin of the suspected shooter, Nader Hasan, told Fox News that he had been ordered to serve a term in Iraq and had been resisting deployment there.
Hasan said his cousin had been transferred to Fort Hood in April and was very reluctant to go to Iraq. "We've known over the last five years that was probably his worst nightmare," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the event a "horrific outburst of violence" and promised "answers to every single question about this horrible incident."
Fort Hood is home to about 50,000 troops and stretches across 339 square miles (878 square km) in central Texas, halfway between Austin and Waco.
Suspect said 'Allahu Akbar!' before shooting: US Army
Fort Hood (Texas): The base commander at Fort
Hood says soldiers who witnessed a shooting rampage that left
13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu
Akbar!" before opening fire at the Texas post.
Lt Gen Robert Cone told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that
suspected shooter, Maj Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment,
which is Arabic for "God is great!" before the rampage
yesterday that also left 30 people wounded.
Military officials say they are still piecing together
what may have pushed Hasan, an Army psychiatrist trained to
help soldiers in distress, to turn on his comrades.
Cone says Hasan was not known to be a threat or risk.
Hasan was shot four times during the rampage. Cone says
he is hospitalised in stable condition and that military
officials will interrogate him as soon as possible.
Bureau Report