As of about 12:15 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, the Trump administration has approved a plan to execute former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, by firing squad, according to CBS News. NBC News reports that officials said Monday he “will be executed by firing squad.” No date has been reported.
What was announced, and by whom
NBC News reports that officials said Monday that Hasan, the former Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, “will be executed by firing squad.” CBS News says the Trump administration has approved a plan to execute him by firing squad, and that chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said so late Monday, Oct. 5.
According to NBC, Parnell, the Defense Department’s chief spokesperson, said death by firing squad for Hasan was recommended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and approved by President Donald Trump. CBS says Parnell said on social media that the plan to use an Army firing squad was recommended by Hegseth and approved by Trump.
Parnell wrote, as CBS prints it: “The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.”
We did not see Parnell’s post itself or a Pentagon release. This article relies on the NBC News and CBS News reports.
What is approved and what is not yet set
CBS says the administration has approved a plan, and that the time and place are still to be set. According to CBS, the post says the Secretary of the Army will set them.
NBC says Acting Army Secretary Adam R. Telle will set a time and place for the execution, Parnell said. Neither report gives an execution date.
Who Hasan is and what he was convicted of
NBC describes Hasan as a former Army major and psychiatrist. According to NBC, Parnell said Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 32 as he shouted “Allahu akbar.” CBS says Hasan was convicted of murdering 13 people and injuring “more than 30” in a 2013 court-martial.
NBC says he was convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, and sentenced to death.
NBC reports that prosecutors alleged he was motivated by unwillingness to be deployed to Afghanistan and by a sense of duty to jihad to kill as many American soldiers as possible. NBC adds that a Joint Terrorism Task Force determined that he “was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning,” and that authorities said he acted alone. NBC also reports that Army prosecutor Col. Steve Henricks told the jury Hasan had created a “personal kill zone” at Fort Hood on the day of the attack.
The trial and the appeals history
Both reports say Hasan represented himself. NBC says he acted as his own lawyer during the trial. CBS says he chose to represent himself and, in what it calls an unusual course of events, clashed with his court-appointed standby attorneys, who worried that he was intentionally seeking the death penalty.
CBS also reports that Hasan acknowledged at trial that he was responsible for the shooting. According to CBS, he claimed he opened fire on fellow members of the Army to protect Islamic insurgents from U.S. military forces.
CBS describes the decision as coming after a lengthy appeals process. It says Hasan asked the Supreme Court to review his case in 2024, arguing the judge violated his right to a public trial by clearing the public from the courtroom before discussing some of his issues with the attorneys. According to CBS, the high court declined to take up the issue in 2025 (“last year” in CBS’s words).
What would be new
NBC says the execution “would mark the first time the U.S. military has executed someone using the method since World War II.” It names Pvt. Eddie Slovik as the last service member executed by firing squad, in 1945, for desertion during World War II.
CBS says the case could mark the military’s first execution of an American service member since 1961, when a soldier was hanged. NBC names Army Pvt. John Bennett as the last service member executed by the U.S. military, in 1961 by hanging.
How it differs from civilian federal practice
CBS calls this a rare use of a firing squad. It says the method was used in South Carolina three times in 2025 (“last year” in CBS’s words), the first firing squad executions since 2010.
CBS also says the federal government typically uses lethal injection in civilian death penalty cases. It adds that earlier this year the Justice Department said federal officials should consider other methods, including firing squads, electrocution and lethal gas.
What the two reports do not say
- An execution date or place. Neither NBC nor CBS reports one.
- A statement from Hasan or his attorney. CBS says it reached out to his attorney for comment, and its report includes no reply.
- Whether any further appeal or legal challenge is pending. Neither report says.
- Any reaction from victims or families.
- The legal rules that govern military executions. Neither report covers them, so we do not describe them here.
This article will change if the Pentagon or the Army announces more.