Woman says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan cleaned out his apartment in the days before a rampage that left 13 people dead
Two hours before he embarked on the most violent rampage in history on a United States military base, Major Nidal Malik Hasan heard a knock at his scuffed, second-storey apartment door.
Outside was Patricia Veen, the 47-year-old neighbour he had bestowed with the belongings he no longer needed – four folding chairs, an inflatable bed, some freshly dry-cleaned men's clothing her husband could use and a few packs of unopened frozen vegetables.
She handed him a wrinkly, foil-wrapped mass of fresh-made sweet tamales, a token of thanks for his kindness and a homemade treat to sweeten his impending sendoff to Afghanistan.
If Maj. Hasan had already decided he wasn't going to deploy, he didn't tell Ms. Veen. He politely thanked her and shut his door.
She learned of the horrific alternative he chose later that afternoon, long after the wail of sirens began to course through town and SWAT teams descended on the scrubby apartment building they both called home. At first, though, she thought the police had come because Maj. Hasan was a victim, not the architect of the massacre.
“He was nice. He never had mean looks. He would wear nice clothes," she remembered, adding: “I can't believe he would do this."
In the hours since Maj. Hasan strode into the Soldier Readiness Processing site here, armed with two handguns on an apparent kill mission, a paradoxical portrait of the 39-year-old has emerged.
Outwardly, the Army psychiatrist projected an image of dedication and altruism.
He spent the six years prior to arriving at Fort Hood last July training in disaster and preventative psychiatry at Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center, working to heal some of this country's most mentally war-wounded; he donated his furniture to Ms. Veen, after discovering she had none and insisted on paying her $60 to clean his apartment when he left – double what she suggested.
Inwardly, though, Maj. Hasan battled turmoil. He stewed over whether to remain in the Army, anti-war sentiments and the difficulty of being a Muslim in post-9/11 America.
But a former classmate said Maj. Hasan “made himself a lightening rod for things" and once gave a presentation in which he argued the war on terror was a war against Islam.
Family members, who said Maj. Hasan's actions were “despicable and deplorable," thought he felt harassed because of his Muslim faith, but wasn't extremist in his views.
And neighbours who lived alongside Maj. Hasan in the $325-per-month rental units at his building, called Casa del Norte, said he never seemed pushy about his religion. They saw him on occasion in traditional Muslim dress – usually a white flowing robe and hat.
However, his behavioural patterns seemed to alter recently. Jose Padilla, the owner of the apartment complex, said Mr. Hasan gave him notice two weeks ago that he was moving out this week and refused to reclaim his deposit and last month's rent, surrendering $400 that he asked go to someone who needed it.
Earlier this week Maj. Hasan was obviously preparing to vacate his unit – neighbours saw him carting garbage bags to the communal dumpster and some made small-talk with him about an impending deployment to Afghanistan, although it was unclear when, exactly, he was slated to deploy.
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