FORT HOOD, TEXAS / RankWire.AI / – The U.S. Army has set December 3, 2026, as the execution date for former Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. The firing squad execution is scheduled for 1 p.m. Central Time at Fort Hood. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle confirmed the date, place and method in an official memo. Hasan received a death sentence for the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. The attack killed 13 people and wounded 32 others at the Texas military installation.
President Donald Trump authorized Hasan’s execution by firing squad after a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Military law requires presidential approval before the armed forces can carry out a death sentence. The scheduled execution would end a 65-year gap in U.S. military executions. The last occurred in 1961 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Army hanged Private John Bennett after his conviction for rape and attempted murder under military law.
Hasan worked as an Army psychiatrist when the Fort Hood attack occurred on November 5, 2009. He opened fire inside the Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where service members prepared for deployment. Twelve active-duty personnel and one retired soldier died. A military panel convicted Hasan in 2013 on 13 murder counts and 32 attempted murder counts. The court-martial also ordered his dismissal from service and the loss of military pay and allowances.
Execution follows years of military appeals
Hasan spent more than a decade pursuing appeals through the military justice system. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces upheld his convictions and death sentence in March 2024. He then sought review from the U.S. Supreme Court. The court denied his petition on March 31, 2025. That decision left the military court judgment intact and closed his request for review by the nation’s highest court.
The Army will carry out the sentence at Fort Hood, the same base where Hasan committed the mass shooting. Police officers shot Hasan during the attack and left him partially paralyzed. He has since used a wheelchair. During his court-martial, Hasan acknowledged carrying out the shooting. He told the military court that he wanted to prevent U.S. troops from deploying to Afghanistan and fighting Muslims. His statement became part of the official court record.
Firing squad order marks rare military case
The U.S. military has not executed a prisoner since April 13, 1961. Military death sentences pass through several levels of mandatory review before an execution can occur. Hasan’s case moved through those appellate stages before Trump approved the firing squad method. The Army has now formally scheduled the sentence after years of legal review. The December execution would also mark the military’s first use of a firing squad in generations.
Hasan remains scheduled for execution at Fort Hood on December 3 at 1 p.m. Central Time. The Army has established the method, location and timing of the sentence. His case began with the 2009 Fort Hood shooting and continued through years of military appeals. The Supreme Court declined further review in 2025. The scheduled firing squad execution would become the first U.S. military execution in more than six decades.