Texas military base shooting suspect 'kind, nice'

Nov. 6--WASHINGTON -- Former neighbors of Nidal Malik Hasan were shocked Thursday night to learn that the man they described as quiet and cordial is accused of opening fire at a Texas military base, killing at least 12 and wounding 31.

"You can't even imagine something like this," said Alain Langueu, 36, of Silver Spring, Md. Langueu lived next door to Hasan on the 18th floor of an apartment high-rise from the time Langueu moved in two years ago until a few months ago.

Langueu and his wife, Viviane, 30, often saw Hasan in the hallway and lobby of the building wearing his Army uniform and carrying bags he used during his medical training at nearby Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"He was a very kind man. To me, he was very nice," Viviane Langueu said.

Hasan lived in the apartment with his brother, the Langueus said. He said little to neighbors.

Outside his door, he had posted a sign with the word "Allah" and several other words in Arabic, Alain Langueu said.

Langueu stood in his living room last night, watching CNN's coverage of the tragedy. As the cable network put a photo of Hasan on the screen, Langueu's eyes widened as he stared at the black-and-white picture of the man who had for more than a year lived beside him, his wife and their two children.

"That's him," Langueu said.

-----

To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:TWX,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.