Hasan, who was shot while being taken into custody, was reported in stable condition at a hospital Thursday night, authorities said.
Born at Arlington Hospital, Nidal Hasan graduated from high school in Roanoke. He enlisted in the Army after high school and attended Virginia Tech, majoring in biochemistry and graduating in 1997 before going on to get a doctorate in psychiatry from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.
From 2003 through last summer, he was an intern, resident and then fellow at Walter Reed, where he worked as a liaison between wounded soldiers and the hospital's psychiatry staff. He was also a fellow at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Bethesda military medical school.
He himself had been affected by the physical and mental injuries he saw while working as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed for nearly eight years, according to his aunt. Some people can take that, and some can't, Noel Hasan said. He must have snapped. They ignored him. It was not hard to know when he was upset. He was not a fighter, even as a child and young man. But when he became upset, his face turns red. You can read him in his face.
Nidal Hasan did not make many friends and did not make friends fast, his aunt said. He had no girlfriend and was not married. He would tell us the military was his life, she said.
The psychiatrist once said Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor and that the U.S. shouldn't be fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place, according to a Fox News interview with Col. Terry Lee, a former colleague.
Looking for a wife
At the Muslim Community Center, Nidal Hasan stood out because he would sometimes show up in Army fatigues, said Faizul Khan, the former imam there.
He came to mosque one or two times to see if there were any suitable girls to marry, Khan said. I don't think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions. He wanted a girl who was very religious, prays five times a day, which is all very good.
Hasan wrote in an application filed with a local Muslim matching service that I am quiet and reserved until more familiar with person. Funny, caring and personable.
He was a very quiet and private person. I can't say that people knew him very well other than attending prayers, said Arshad Qureshi, chairman of the board of trustees at the Muslim Community Center of Silver Spring. You didn't see him attend anything — school for children or celebrations. He did not go out of the way to engage people. We have thousands of people who come through to pray; he was just one of them.
A co-worker at Walter Reed said Hasan would not allow his photo to be taken with female co-workers, which became an issue during Christmas season when employees often took group photos. Co-workers would find a solo photo of him and post it on the bulletin board without his permission.
Wanted troops out
Lee told Fox News Hasan was hoping that President Obama would pull troops out. When things weren't going that way, he became more agitated, more frustrated with the conflicts over there he made his views well known about how he felt about the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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