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Fort Hood police officer testifies in military trial

FORT HOOD, Texas — With the gunman standing over her, Fort Hood police officer Kimberly Munley tried to fire her weapon as she lay bleeding on the ground. Nothing happened.

The shooter then kicked the gun from her hand. But then the shooter’s gun malfunctioned and he stumbled back as one of Munley’s fellow officers yelled, ‘‘Drop your weapon.’’ The officer fired, and the gunman fell.

Munley recalled those seconds while testifying Friday at the military trial of Major Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people at the Texas military base in 2009.

When asked whether the man who tried to kill her was in the courtroom, Munley pointed to Hasan.

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Munley told jurors she spotted someone in Army clothing with a gun at the scene, a medical building on the Army post. She then heard her colleague, Sergeant Mark Todd, order the man to drop his weapon.

Munley said she saw a red laser flash across her eyes, and she began shooting. She said she took cover behind a building. ‘‘When I fell to the ground, the shooter was closer to me. I tried to continue to fire. My weapon would not fire. Some sort of malfunction . . . I see him standing over me, trying to shoot me.’’

After Hasan kicked the weapon out of her hand, she crawled, trying to regain it. As Hasan tried to fix his weapon, she heard Todd again yell at the gunman. Todd then fired his gun, and Hasan fell, Munley said.

Associated Press