Fort Hood Suspect Has Been Paid $278,000 Since 2009 Shooting Spree

The Defense Department has confirmed that Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood massacre suspect, is still being paid and has received $278,000 since the 2009 shootings.

Hasan, a military psychiatrist, is scheduled to go to court-martial on July 1 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, service members accused of crimes continue to receive their pay until convicted.

Victims who survived the attack, however, are not being paid the appropriate benefits, according to Military.com.

The incident, which happened in May 2009, was classified as "workplace violence" and not injuries sustained on the battlefield.

That means that those injured in the rampage are not being given the thousands of dollars paid to soldiers hurt in the theater of war.

Retired Army Spc. Logan Burnett, who was shot three times during the incident, told the website: "You take three rounds and lose five good friends and watch seven other people get killed in front of you. Do you have another term that we can classify that as?

"The classification sickens me. Absolutely sickens me. Workplace violence? I don't even know if I have the words to say."

It was decided earlier this year that attack survivors could not awarded Purple Hearts because it might impede Hasan’s right to a fair trial.

Addressing Hasan’s payout, Fort Bragg spokesman Chris Haugsaid: "He’s an active duty major in the United States Army and he’s being paid as such. He’s innocent until proven guilty."

Victims have said that the accused killer shouted a battle cry in Arabic before opening fire. They unsuccessfully lobbied the U.S. government to treat the attack as an act of terrorism.

Under military rules, even if Hasan is convicted he won’t be required to give back the pay he has received since the attack.