High drama of gunfight between Hasan, female officer

Officer confronts Hasan from witness stand - TV sketch by Brigitte Woosley

Both guns jammed simultaneously

Ft. Hood – Officer Kimberly Munley lay on the ground, bleeding from three gunshot wounds - two located in the thigh and knee of her left leg and one in her right pinky finger - desperately trying to clear a malfunction.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan stood over her, his semiautomatic pistol also jammed, and kicked her gun out of her hand before he walked away to try to clear his weapon.

She could hear Officer Mark Todd repeatedly ordering Hasan to drop his weapon as she tried to crawl to recover hers, but gave up to apply pressure to what was “clearly arterial bleeding” from her leg.

Officer Mark Todd shot Hasan in the center of his chest, paralyzing him and stopping the deadly onslaught that began only minutes before in the Soldier Readiness Center, where he went with mass murder as his intention, for what he perceived as the glory of Islam, prepared to die a martyred death in the spirit of jihad.

Officer Munley's testimony began with a Dashcam recording that depicts trees and buildings whipping by at a high rate of speed as she raced to respod to the emergency.

The tape shows that when she reached the scene of the shooting, she alighted from her patrol car, drawing her weapon. A soldier approached her, saying “He's over here!”

“In my training, I knew not to chase,” she recalled, as she related how she saw Hasan come around the corner of the building with a gun in his hand. “I went to the opposite corner of the building,” she said, seeking cover.

When Hasan reappeared, coming around the opposite corner, “He began firing, and I engaged him...I fired an unknonwn number of shots, and he was running in my direction. Within 8 or 10 feet, we began to blindly fire at each other.”

That's when her gun jammed, and the gunfight reached its dramatic climax. Earlier, jurors listened to the rapid tempo of Hasan's gunshots, which sounded like a double-time rapping of a heavy, dull metallic drum beat.

Asked if she recognized the man who shot her in the courtroom, she pointed at Hasan.

“I have no questions for Officer Munley,” Hasan said. He did not object when the judge dismissed her permanently, allowing her to seek he rest of life in peace, which is the true meaning of the Arabic word, Islam.

Peace.

- The Legendary