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A U.S. Army psychiatrist, fighting orders sending him to Iraq, gunned down dozens of soldiers at Fort Hood, Tex., on Thursday, killing 13 and wounding at least 30 in the worst American military fratricide in decades. The gunman was shot and wounded by a police officer.

“He was not killed, he's in custody … his death is not imminent,” Lieutenant-General Robert Cone said Thursday night after a previous spokesperson had said the shooter was killed. Military officials later said the gunman was shot four times, and was on a ventilator and unconscious.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, American-born and of Middle Eastern descent, was fiercely opposed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to his cousin, Nader Hasan, who stated the military doctor said he had been harassed by other officers for his opinions.

Major Hasan apparently acted alone.

“There was a single shooter that was shot multiple times at the scene,” Gen. Cone said.

“He's a good American,” Major Hasan's cousin told a U.S. television network. “His worst nightmare” was being sent overseas, Mr. Hasan said, adding that his cousin had been dealing for years with returning soldiers suffering from combat stress. He said he had actively fought for years to avoid deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq.

CNN showed security video footage of Major Hasan at a 7-Eleven convenience store on the base the morning of Thursday's shooting. The video showed him chatting with the owner while wearing a white traditional Arab robe and skullcap.

“He looked normal, came in had his hashbrowns and coffee as you see in the surveillance video,” the owner, who was not identified, told CNN about Major Hasan's purchases about seven hours before the rampage.

No evidence emerged immediately after Thursday's murderous rampage to suggest any link to terrorist groups. Major Hasan apparently shot dozens of unarmed soldiers at close range. He was firing at least two guns, one of them a semi-automatic.

“There's no indication that these were military weapons,” Gen. Cone said. “The evidence does not suggest that,” he added, referring to terrorism. Major's Hasan's military records lists “no religious preference,” but his Arabic ethnicity may to stir anger and isolate American Muslims, many of whom already feel Arabs and Muslims are suspected and marginalized.

Major Hasan, 39, joined the military before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the wishes of his Jordanian-born parents, his cousin said. The major was transferred last spring from Washington to Fort Hood, the largest U.S. army base.

The sprawling facility is home to more than 50,000 soldiers, more than half of whom are currently deployed in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The killings were in the Soldier Readiness Center, one of the last stops before soldiers pack up and get on transport aircraft to deploy.

The victims, most of them soldiers, were waiting for last-minute medical or dental treatment before flying to a war zone.

Gun control is tighter on U.S. military bases than almost anywhere else in the United States and none of the soldiers would have had bullets in their weapons. On bases in the United States, soldiers can't even carry weapons unless they are in training.

In the initial confusion there were several erroneous reports of shootings elsewhere on Fort Hood. Two other soldiers were initially detained but later released.

Soldiers rushed to treat their injured colleagues by ripping their uniforms into makeshift bandages. Officials have not ruled out the possibility that some casualties may have been victims of “friendly fire,” shot by authorities amid the mayhem and confusion at the scene, said a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that were under investigation.

All of the victims were adults. Most were soldiers. At least some were women. All of Fort Hood, including several elementary and high schools, was locked down for hours with gates closed and heavily armed police and military teams searching nearby buildings until it was established that no additional gunmen were at large.

“This was an intelligent man with a six-figure income … he just wanted to stay away from war,” Major Hasan's cousin said. He said the family was shocked. “We are trying to make sense.”

Major Hasan joined the military after high school and the army put him through medical school. He was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for the past six years. He was unmarried and had no children.

President Barack Obama, who campaigned against the war in Iraq but vowed to refocus America's military on Afghanistan, called the mass killing “a horrific outburst of violence.”

The President is in the final stages of deciding whether to send tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan to crush a raging Taliban insurgency, despite sagging public support and over the opposition of many in his party.

“It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas,” he said. “It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on American soil.

Hospitals near Fort Hood issued urgent calls for blood donors and at least some of those with multiple gunshot wounds were in extremely critical condition.

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One retired army medical officer, who said he worked with Major Hasan, said his opposition to being deployed to a combat zone extended to active denunciation of U.S. involvement in the wars.

“He said Muslims should stand up and fight the aggressor and that we should not be in the war in the first place,” retired colonel Terry Lee told Fox News. He also said that Major Hasan had said “maybe people should strap bombs on themselves and go to Times Square” in New York.

There was no independent confirmation that Major Hasan held extreme anti-war views or that he had ever called for suicide attacks against Americans.

“The guy was born and raised here, he was a good American,” his cousin insisted.

However, U.S. federal officials said Major Hasan had been under investigation in the past six months ago because of Internet postings that included discussions of suicide bombings and other threats.

One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed equated suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades.

“To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause,” the posting said.

With files from The Associated Press