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Texas shooter reportedly a Palestinian Nov. 6, 2009 AP and jpost.com staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Army Lt. Gen. Robert Cone gives a news conference after a shooting in Fort Hood, Texas on Thursday. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a US military psychiatrist suspected of going on a shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 30 in a US army base in Texas, is believed to be of Palestinian origin, ABC News reported on Friday.   According to the report, Hasan's grandfather moved to the United States in the 1940s. While his family has refused to speak to reporters, a person close to the family told the TV network that Hasan had told his family he was unhappy about his impending deployment in Afghanistan.   The Jerusalem Post could not independently confirm the report. Soldiers who witnessed the shooting rampage at Fort Hood that reported that the gunman shouted "Allahu Akbar!" before opening fire, the base commander said Friday.   Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said officials had not yet confirmed that the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment, which is Arabic for "God is great!" before the rampage Thursday, which left 30 people wounded, including the gunman.   An imam from a mosque Hasan regularly attended said Hasan, a lifelong Muslim, was a committed soldier, gave no sign of extremist beliefs and regularly wore his uniform at prayers. Hasan was on a ventilator and unconscious in a hospital after being shot four times during the shootings at the Army's sprawling Fort Hood, post officials said.   Authorities have not ruled out that Hasan was acting on behalf of some unidentified radical group, a senior US official said. He would not say whether any evidence had come to light to support that theory. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that were under investigation.   The gunfire broke out on Thursday at around 1:30 pm at the Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening. Officials are not ruling out the possibility that some of the casualties may have been victims of "friendly fire," that in the mayhem and confusion at the shooting scene some of the responding military officials may have shot some of the victims. The motive for the shooting wasn't clear, but Hasan was apparently set to deploy soon, and had expressed some anger about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said generals at Fort Hood told her that Hasan was about to deploy overseas. Retired Col. Terry Lee, who said he had worked with Hasan, told Fox News he was being sent to Afghanistan.   Lee said Hasan had hoped Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq and got into frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars.   For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, in July, the 39-year-old Army major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center pursuing a career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2001. But his record wasn't sterling. At Walter Reed, he received a poor performance evaluation, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. And while he was an intern, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time. At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades. Investigators had not determined for certain whether Hasan was the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case. The FBI, local police and other agencies searched Hasan's apartment Thursday night after evacuating the complex in Killeen, said city spokeswoman Hilary Shine. She referred questions about what was found to the FBI. The FBI in Dallas referred questions to a spokesman who was not immediately available early Friday morning. Meanwhile, Fort Hood base commander praised the soldiers for their quick reaction. "God bless these soldiers," Cone said. "As horrible as this was it could have been worse." Video from the scene showed police patrolling the area with handguns and rifles, ducking behind buildings for cover. Sirens could be heard wailing while a woman's voice on a public-address system urged people to take cover. Schools on the base went into lockdown, and family members trying to find out what was happening inside found cell phone lines jammed or busy. "I was confused and just shocked," said Spc. Jerry Richard, 27, who works at the center but was not on duty during the shooting. "Overseas you are ready for it. But here you can't even defend yourself." The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas, Cone said. Their identities and the identities of the dead were not immediately released. The bodies of the victims would be taken to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for autopsies and forensic tests, said a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that were under investigation. There will also be a ceremony at the air base to honor the dead. Jamie and Scotty Casteel stood outside the emergency room at the hospital in Temple waiting for news of their son-in-law Matthew Cooke, who was among the injured. "He's been shot in the abdomen and that's all we know," Jamie Casteel told The Associated Press. She said Cook, from New York state, had been home from Iraq for about a year. Amber Bahr, 19, was shot in the stomach but was in stable condition, said her mother, Lisa Pfund of Random Lake, Wisconsin. "We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly," Pfund said. She couldn't provide more details and only spoke with emergency personnel. Ashley Saucedo told WOOD-TV in Michigan that her husband was shot in the arm, but she couldn't discuss specifics. Saucedo said she and the couple's two children weren't permitted to leave their home at Fort Hood during the shootings. This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1257455196462&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull