Civilian slain at Ft Hood gets medal

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The man credited with being the first to try to stop the Fort Hood gunman is getting an Army heroism medal more than a year after the rampage in which he died.

Fort Hood officials say Michael Cahill will receive the honor Monday afternoon at the Texas post.

Soon after gunfire erupted on Nov. 5, 2009, Cahill ran at the gunman with a chair over his head before being fatally shot. That’s according to testimony at an evidentiary hearing last fall for the suspect, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan.

Cahill, the lone civilian slain in the shooting, was among 13 killed and more than two dozen wounded. Fort Hood officials say Cahill’s position as a civilian contractor made him ineligible for a military award, so getting approval took time.