The incident has raised concerns over the threat of "home grown" militant attacks. U.S. officials said Hassan had exchanged e-mails with Anwar al-Awlaki, an anti-American al-Qaeda figure based in Yemen.

Lunsford said Hassan, a U.S.-born Muslim, wielded a laser-targeted weapon and shot him five times, including once in the head. "I saw the laser come across my line of sight," Lunsford said."

He stood and silently pointed to Hassan, identifying the 40-year-old Army psychiatrist as the assailant. Lunsford started to unbutton his uniform to display his gunshot wounds, but Col. James Pohl, the hearing's presiding officer, stopped him.

Hassan sat silently, dressed in Army fatigues and a green wool cap that his lawyer -- retired Col. John Galligan -- says is needed for Hassan to regulate his body temperature after being paralyzed by bullet wounds inflicted by civilian police officers during the shooting. Hassan also used a blanket.

Earlier, Pohl denied a request by Hassan's lawyers to delay until November the Article 32 hearing, which will determine whether there is enough evidence against Hassan to justify a military-style court martial.

Legal experts expect the case to proceed and Hassan could face the death penalty, though Army prosecutors have not specified whether they will seek capital punishment if he is convicted.

Pohl has said he will call as witnesses the 32 people wounded during the shooting. The proceeding could stretch over a month.

Michelle Harper, a civilian laboratory technician who was testing soldiers' blood when the shooting started, broke down in tears as prosecutors played a tape of her speaking with emergency telephone dispatchers during the shooting.

"I thought I was hearing firecrackers," Harper said, choking back tears and declining to look at Hassan.

Harper was not injured during the shooting. She said she hid under her desk and watched as Hassan walked by, then saw him shoot and wound Fort Hood civilian police officer Kimberley Munley.

Harper's telephone line remained open as she fled to her car, capturing sounds of victims screaming and moaning in the background.

Fort Hood is a major deployment point for the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.