KILLEEN, Texas, May 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Defense Department confirms Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood massacre suspect, is still drawing his pay while those injured have been denied combat pay.
Hasan, a military psychiatrist suspected of going on a shooting rampage at the Texas base that left 13 dead and 32 injured in 2009, has been paid $278,000 since the shooting, KXAS-TV, Dallas/Fort Worth, reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Army has not granted combat pay or benefits to those wounded in the attack. The victims are not being given what amounts to thousands of dollars each year that colleagues wounded on a battlefield receive.
Because the incident was classified "workplace violence" rather than injuries sustained while in combat, those injured are not eligible for Purple Heart retirement or several other benefits afforded soldiers wounded on the battlefield.
That has several of the victims angry.
"You take three rounds and lose five good friends and watch seven other people get killed in front of you. Do you have another term that we can classify that as?" asked retired Army Spc. Logan Burnett, who was shot three times during the incident. "[The classification] sickens me. Absolutely sickens me. Workplace violence? I don't even know if I have the words to say."
Army rules stipulate a soldier suspected of committing a crime must receive his pay until he is proved guilty.
