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FORT HOOD, Texas (CBS) ― Prosecutors are now weighing whether to charge Army psychiatrist Malik Hasan for a 14th murder for the unborn child of one of the soldiers he killed during his massacre at Fort Hood.

Investigators are also hoping to learn more about Hasan after probing his apartment.

An examination of the 39-year-old's modest apartment offers few clues. A psychiatry examination book lies on a table. Loose change, paper towels, an ID wallet, a coffee cup and water bottle on another. What appears to be a Muslim prayer rug is piled against a thin mattress.

The refrigerator is empty, save for some condiment bottles. There are a few clothes on hangers, although the dryer is full. Various drugs, prescription and over-the-counter, fill a box. There are no inflammatory posters or books about radical Islam visible, only a book about how to interpret dreams written by a first century Islamic scholar. But next to that book is the empty package for a new laser sight for a handgun, which was evidently purchased for $229.

The Army major, in the meantime, remains hospitalized, but is reportedly awake and talking. The bodies of the soldiers he gunned down are now being returned to their families.

Under Army court martial regulations, Hasan will face a jury of his peers. If he's convicted, he could face death by lethal injection.

An Army spokesman says the injured soldiers are slowly recovering.

"Twelve of our gunshot victims remain in local hospitals. One is in ICU and 11 remain on the wards. All of them are in stable condition at this time," said Col. John Rossi, U.S. Army III Corps Deputy Commander.

But all of them have terrible memories of that day. Twenty-four-year-old Spc.Logan Burnette said out of nowhere, Hasan stood up in uniform, screamed "Alluah Akbar," and started shooting.

"I wanted to get out of the line of fire, so to do so I stood up and threw a folding table at the gentleman – and I use that word loosely – threw the table and I took a round to the hip," said Burnette.

Burnette was shot twice before crawling out a door.

Moments later, Ofc. Mark Todd exchanged fire with the suspect.

"I drew his attention towards me, and then he opened fire and I neutralized him," said Todd.

What is still unclear is why this career soldier turned on his own.

President Obama and Congress have called for an investigation into whether Hasan's actions could have been anticipated and prevented. The FBI confirms they knew of about 10 to 20 emails between Hasan and a radical American cleric beginning last December, and that Hasan's co-workers complained he was belligerent.

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Citing the investigation and the Privacy Act, the Army and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences have released only minimal details of Hasan's career. He entered the Army in 1997 as a 2nd lieutenant and started the medical school program, according to a service spokesman in Washington.

But school records from Barstow Community College in Barstow, Calif., where Hasan was a student from 1989 to 1990, show his military service began much earlier. Maureen Stokes, a spokeswoman for the college, said the records indicate he was a private first class with an infantry unit at Fort Irwin, Calif. Hasan received 10 credits for his military experience, she said.
John Wagstaffe, a Fort Irwin spokesman, said that based upon the school records it would appear that Hasan was stationed at Fort Irwin. But he said base officials have not been able to locate the military records to verify that.

The Pentagon has found no evidence that Hasan formally sought release from the Army as a conscientious objector or for any other reason, two senior military officials told The Associated Press. Family members have said he wanted to get out of the Army and had sought legal advice, suggesting that Hasan's anxiety as a Muslim over his pending deployment overseas might have been a factor in the deadly rampage.

Hasan had complained privately to colleagues that he was harassed for his religion and that he wanted to get out of the Army. But there is no record of Hasan filing a complaint with his chain of command regarding any harassment he may have suffered for being Muslim or any record of him formally seeking release from the military, the officials told the AP.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is under investigation.

 

 

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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