Houston Soldier Among Fort Hood Heroes

A soldier from Houston was among the heroes who helped save lives during the Fort Hood shooting that left 13 dead and 30 injured.

Pfc. Jeffrey Pearsall, 21, was part of the two-team effort to transport wounded victims to the hospital.

Pfc. Marquest Smith, of Fort Worth, dragged the victims out of the building during the shooting while Pearsall was waiting outside in the parking lot for Smith. He was talking to his brother on a cell phone when a group of soldiers ran out the door and a window shattered.

It was only then that he heard the gunshots.

He pulled his pickup truck forward, then hopped out and helped the wounded into the bed. He loaded as many as he could and sped off to the base hospital.

The suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is accused of opening fire at the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood, Texas on Thursday. He was shot by a civilian police officer on the scene.

Army Col. John Rossi, deputy commander at Fort Hood, confirmed at a news conference late Friday in Texas that the two weapons carried by Hasan were not military arms, but "privately owned weapons ... purchased locally." One of the weapons was a 5.7-millimeter pistol.

He said more than 100 rounds were fired during the attack. Records indicate Hasan bought the FN 5.7 at store called "Guns Galore" in Killeen, Texas, in recent months and that gun was used in the attack that left 13 people dead, one of the officials said. The pistol has been dubbed a "cop killer" by those who have tried to stop its use.

Hasan was transported Friday to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He was in stable condition in the intensive care unit at the hospital on Fort Sam Houston outside San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood.

Neighbors said Hasan cleaned out his apartment and left a phone message saying goodbye to a friend in the days before the rampage.

One neighbor, Patricia Villa, said Hasan came over to her apartment Wednesday and Thursday and offered her some items, including a new Quran, saying he was going to be deployed on Friday.

Authorities said the 39-year-old Hasan went on a shooting spree later Thursday at the sprawling Texas post. He was among 30 people wounded in the rampage and remained hospitalized Friday in a coma, attached to a ventilator. All but two of the wounded were still hospitalized and a doctor warned that "everyone is not out of the woods."

Investigators were trying to piece together how and why Hasan allegedly gunned down his comrades in one of the worst mass shootings ever on an American military base. Though his motive wasn't known, some who knew Hasan said he may have been struggling with a pending deployment to Afghanistan and faced pressure in his work with distressed soldiers.

Hasan's family said in a statement Friday that his alleged actions were "despicable and deplorable" and don't reflect how the family was raised.

President Barack Obama ordered the flags at the White House and other federal buildings be at half-staff and urged people not to draw conclusions while authorities investigate.

"We don't know all the answers yet. And I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts," Obama said in a statement.

A moment of silence was held Friday afternoon at Fort Hood and other U.S. military bases as a show of respect for the victims.