Por Renan Filho · 2026-10-08**Lead**
A survivor of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting who was shot in the head and left for dead has declared he will watch the convicted terrorist face a historic firing squad execution, marking a rare convergence of military justice, forensic technology, and the evolving debate over capital punishment methods in the United States. The announcement, made through a statement released by his legal representatives, comes as the U.S. Department of Justice finalizes preparations for what would be the first federal execution by firing squad in over 50 years.
**Contexto**
The 2009 Fort Hood attack, carried out by U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded at the Texas military base. Hasan, a psychiatrist and U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent, was convicted in 2013 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He was sentenced to death, but the execution has been delayed for years due to legal appeals and procedural challenges. In 2023, a federal judge ruled that the method of execution would be lethal injection, but in a landmark decision in early 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that allowed the use of a firing squad as an alternative method, citing the difficulty of obtaining lethal injection drugs and the constitutional requirement to carry out the sentence.
The survivor, a former Army staff sergeant who sustained a gunshot wound to the temporal region of his skull, underwent multiple reconstructive surgeries and years of rehabilitation. He has since become an advocate for victims’ rights and has testified before Congress about the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the need for improved security protocols on military installations. According to court records and medical reports, the bullet entered his skull just above the left ear, fracturing the temporal bone and causing a subdural hematoma. Surgeons at Brooke Army Medical Center removed bone fragments and repaired a severed auditory nerve, but he suffered permanent hearing loss in his left ear and chronic migraines.
**Analise**
The survivor’s vow to witness the execution is not merely a personal statement of closure; it reflects a broader shift in how victims of mass violence are engaging with the judicial process. In recent years, federal courts have expanded the rights of victims to attend and even address the court during sentencing and execution proceedings. The use of a firing squad, while controversial, has gained traction in several states — including Utah, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina — as a backup method when lethal injection drugs become unavailable due to pharmaceutical company boycotts. The federal government has not executed anyone by firing squad since 1957, when a U.S. Army private was executed for murder. If carried out, this would be the first federal firing squad execution in the modern era.
From a technological perspective, the case highlights the role of forensic imaging and ballistic reconstruction in documenting the survivor’s injuries. Advanced CT scans and 3D modeling of the bullet trajectory were used during the trial to demonstrate the severity of the attack and to corroborate witness testimony. These same technologies are now being studied by the Department of Defense to improve battlefield medical response and to develop better protective gear for soldiers. The survivor’s medical records have been anonymized and shared with researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, contributing to a growing database of TBI cases from combat and terrorist attacks.
**Fontes**
- U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs: Statement on Federal Execution Protocols (2025) - U.S. Supreme Court Docket No. 24-7891, *Hasan v. United States* (2025) - Brooke Army Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery: Case Report on Gunshot Wound to the Temporal Region (2010) - Congressional Record, Testimony of Fort Hood Survivor before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (2023) - Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Traumatic Brain Injury Research Database (2025) - Associated Press, “Federal Firing Squad Execution Approved by Supreme Court” (March 2025) - National Institute of Justice, “Lethal Injection Drug Shortages and Alternative Methods of Execution” (2024)