US gunman charged with 13 counts of murder

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has ordered review of intelligence related to the incident.

Thirty-nine-year-old Hasan, a Virginia-born American citizen of Jordanian descent who was also shot several times during the exchange of fire at the military processing centre of the Ford Hood army base on November 5, is being guarded at the Brooke Army Medical Centre, where he is undergoing treatment. Thirteen people, mostly security personnel, had lost their lives while 38 others were injured in the incident.

Officials said the military investigators have charged Hasan with 13 counts of premeditated murder.

Hasan will be tried under the military’s court-martial system, and prosecutors are likely to seek the death penalty.

Meanwhile, President Obama ordered a review of how intelligence agencies handled information they had gathered on the suspect ahead of the incident. Obama ordered an “immediate inventory” of all intelligence in the US government files relevant to the shooting at Fort Hood.

John Brennan, assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism, will be the point of contact for the inventory and review, the results of which will be provided by November 30.

Reports have surfaced about possible communications Hasan may have had with terrorist groups, his potential psychiatric problems and his fears about imminent deployment to the war-torn Afghanistan, but authorities working on the case have declined to confirm or comment on motive theories.

Out of coma now, Hasan has been talking to investigators probing the motives behind his actions. Earlier this week, doctors said he was in serious condition but was awake and talking.