U.S. President Donald Trump has approved a firing squad execution for the perpetrator of the mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.

CNN reported that the gunman, Nidal Malik Hasan, was a U.S. Army major and military doctor at the time of the 2009 incident, marking the first time the U.S. military will carry out a firing squad execution since World War II.

Sean Parnell, senior spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense (Department of War), posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 5th local time, stating, "Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the execution by firing squad by the U.S. Army for Hasan, a jihadist who opened fire on unarmed U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, and President Trump has approved it."

The incident took place on November 5, 2009, when Hasan, a military psychiatrist stationed at Fort Hood (then a major), shouted "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for "God is great") before indiscriminately opening fire, killing 13 service members and civilians and injuring 32 others.

Hasan, a Muslim, was investigated for committing a "homegrown terrorist attack" while suffering from psychological stress ahead of a scheduled deployment to Afghanistan. The incident is recorded as one of the worst mass shootings in the United States.

Spokesperson Parnell stated that the date and location of Hasan's execution by firing squad will be determined by the Secretary of the Army, adding, "The Day of Judgment has finally come for Hasan."

According to the U.S. daily The Washington Post (WP) on the 6th, executions by firing squad are rare in the United States.

They are permitted in only a small number of states, including Idaho, Oklahoma, Utah, South Carolina, and Mississippi.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), a non-profit organization opposed to the death penalty, South Carolina executed three people by firing squad last year. Prior to that, only three executions using this method had taken place since 1977, all of which occurred in Utah.

The execution of a death sentence by the U.S. military will be the first in 65 years, following the hanging of U.S. Army Private John Bennett for attempted rape and murder on April 13, 1961.

The last execution by firing squad carried out by the U.S. military is known to have been conducted by a rifle squad on November 9, 1945.

President Trump has long supported the death penalty.

During his first term, he revived the federal death penalty after a 17-year hiatus, executing 13 death row inmates just before the end of his term.

While the preceding Joe Biden administration ordered a moratorium on federal executions, President Trump rescinded it shortly after the launch of his second term.

(Photo: Getty Images)