Around 1:30 p.m., witnesses say a man later identified as Hasan jumped up on a desk and shouted the words “Allahu Akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great!” He was armed with two pistols, one a semiautomatic capable of firing up to 20 rounds without reloading.
Packed into cubicles with 5-foot-high dividers, the 300 unarmed soldiers were sitting ducks. Those who weren’t hit by direct fire were struck by rounds ricocheting off the desks and tile floor.
When he decided that Hasan wasn’t close to being out of ammo, Smith made a dash for the door. He’d made it outside when he heard cries from within.
“I don’t want to die.”
“This really hurts.”
“Help me get out of here.”
Smith rushed back inside and found two wounded. He grabbed them by their collars and dragged them outside.
His second time through the door, he ran into the shooter, whose back was to him. Smith turned and fled, bullets whizzing by his head and hitting the walls as he rushed outside.
I don’t believe that our flags were at “Half-Mast” for that episode. Just sayin’.