Gunman kills 13 at U.S. military base

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 U.S. 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.

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 Centre, 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 Centre 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.