October 11, 2026 — Former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people and wounded 32, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood at 1 p.m. CST on December 3, 2026, in what would be the first US military execution in more than six decades.
The execution was approved by President Trump on October 2 at the recommendation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and announced by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 following his conviction for the deadliest mass shooting ever on an American military base. The case has moved slowly through the military justice system ever since.
If carried out, it would be the first US military execution since a hanging in 1961 and the first by firing squad since World War II in 1945. The choice of method alone makes the case historic, reviving a form of execution the US military has not used in over 80 years.
Hegseth said the execution would be public and livestreamed, but as of October 10 the broadcast arrangements were not settled. Trump said officials were “making a determination” about the broadcast, while Vice President Vance said he did not know whether it would be shown, according to reports. The uncertainty has fueled debate over whether a military execution should be carried out before cameras.
Death-penalty experts have linked the choice of a firing squad to Tennessee’s botched lethal injection of Christa Pike, whose September 30 execution attempt failed when two doses of pentobarbital did not kill her. The case has intensified scrutiny of lethal injection protocols nationwide and may be pushing authorities toward older methods seen as more reliable.
Hasan could still delay the proceedings by filing a habeas corpus appeal in federal court, a route that has stalled other military death-penalty cases for years. With the date now set, the coming weeks are expected to bring legal challenges and renewed debate over the military’s first execution of the modern era.
