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U.S. President Barack Obama has called for a thorough investigation of
the steps leading to last week's tragic shooting on a Texas army base.
In
his weekly radio and Internet address, posted Saturday on the White
House Web site, Mr. Obama said investigators must "compile every piece
of information" known about the gunman and learn what was done with it.
Meanwhile, funerals are scheduled Saturday for some of the 13
victims of the November 5 shooting at Fort Hood. Among them is Staff
Sergeant Amy Krueger, who will be buried in the small town of Kiel in
the upper midwestern state of Wisconsin.
Hundreds of people turned out Friday evening at a local high school for a memorial service for the 29-year-old slain soldier.
An
attorney for the suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, said Friday
it appears his client is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot
multiple times by civilian police during the attack.
The civilian attorney John Galligan said Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, also has extreme pain in his hands.
The attorney said he spent time with Hasan Thursday at the Army hospital near San Antonio where he is being treated.
Army
officials announced Thursday that Hasan is being charged with 13 counts
of premeditated murder. He could face the death penalty.
Hasan
is accused of opening fire on unarmed soldiers who were preparing for
deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Those who were killed included a
pregnant soldier and several mental health professionals. Forty-three
other people were wounded.
President Obama has ordered a
review of all intelligence related to Hasan to determine if government
agencies shared and properly acted on information about him before the
shooting.
There have been concerns that authorities missed warning signs that could have prevented the rampage.
Colleagues described Hasan as aloof, belligerent and frequently argumentative when discussing his Muslim faith.
U.S.
media reports cite unnamed military officials as saying doctors that
reviewed Hasan a year ago held a series of meetings where they
discussed problems with his performance and mental state.
The
officials decided against seeking his removal because they did not
believe him to be violent, and they thought his transfer to Fort Hood
in July would help lessen his workload.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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