Bell County Sheriff's Office / Reuters

Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 31 in a November 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, is pictured in an undated Bell County Sheriff's Office photograph.

An Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 and wounding nearly three dozen others at a Fort Hood, Texas, military post in 2009 has been denied a trial delay by a judge.

Major Nidal Hasan, 42, who has been allowed to represent himself, had requested a three-month postponement to his trial so he could prepare more. Military Judge Col. Tara Osborn refused the request Tuesday, and said jury selection was set for July 9 and was expected to last for four weeks; testimony will start Aug. 6 at the earliest. 

Hasan's court martial has been sidetracked numerous times by questions over his legal representation and the beard he has, which violates military dress code. Opening statements had been scheduled to begin on July 1.

Most of those killed in the shooting four years ago at Fort Hood, a staging base for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, were military personnel. Hasan was shot four times by civilian police after the attack.

Hasan, who was born in the U.S. and is Muslim, could face the death penalty in the trial. He has been charged with 13 counts of first-degree murder; 32 others were wounded.

Osborn ruled last week that Hasan could not use as a defense that he carried out the base shooting in an attempt to protect Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

According to witnesses, a gunman in an army combat uniform opened fire in a packed medical building on Nov. 5, 2009, stopping only to reload his weapon. 

None of the victims posed an “immediate imminent threat” to Taliban personnel in Afghanistan, the judge said.

Although Hasan is representing himself, Osborn ordered his three former defense attorneys to remain on the case and to offer assistance to him if he requests help.

Hasan's trial was initially slated for March 2012, but was delayed twice because defense attorneys said they needed more time to prepare. It was delayed a third time last fall when Hasan appealed an order from then-judge Col. Gregory Gross that his beard be forcibly shaved if he didn't remove it before his trial. 

Gross was ousted from the case and his order was thrown out, and court proceedings resumed in December with the current judge.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

• Fort Hood suspect, defense attorneys at odds
• Judge bans Fort Hood suspect's defense strategy
• Judge rules Fort Hood suspect can represent himself

A shark attacked a teenage boy on Monday as he was standing in shallow water off the coast of Texas, police said.

The 15-year-old was at Surfside Beach on the Gulf of Mexico with friends when he felt the shark bite his left leg and tried to fight it off by reaching into the water and hitting it. The shark then went for his left hand and he suffered lacerations to limbs, according to Assistant Chief of Police Gregg Bisso.

When the shark gave up, the boy’s friends helped him out of the water and a police officer and medic who was on the scene began administering first aid, said Bisso.

The victim was then air-lifted 60 miles to Memorial Herman–Texas Medical Center in Houston.

Bisso said the Surfside Beach Police Department is most used to responding to jelly fish stings — not shark bites — since the last shark attack at Surfside happened 25-30 years ago.

He said an influx of sharks could be the result of weather conditions or bait fish, but the police department will not call for extra precautions on the beach until they are able to figure it out.

The boy, whose name has not been released because he is a minor, is being treated, but his injuries are not life threatening, Bisso said.

A private jet carrying former President George W. Bush to Texas was diverted to Louisville, Kentucky late Saturday after the pilot reported possible smoke in the cockpit, according to his spokesman and Federal Aviation Administration officials.

The aircraft was traveling from Philadelphia International to Dallas Love Field airport when it made an unscheduled landing. President Bush later continued to Texas.

"President Bush's flight was briefly diverted to Louisville late this evening, but he is already safely home in Dallas,” spokesman Freddy Ford told NBCDFW.com in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the FAA confirmed that the flight was diverted because the captain reported possible smoke in the cockpit.

Tony Gutierrez / AP

An American flag planted by the curb in front of this home waves in the breeze as a tractor demolishes a home in West, Texas, on Friday, May 31, 2013.

The small town of West, Texas, is making plans to move forward after being denied additional funds from The Federal Emergency Management Agency to rebuild after a deadly fertilizer plant explosion last April.

Governor Rick Perry received a letter from FEMA on June 10^th, rejecting his request to declare a major disaster declaration in the town of West, Texas. 

The letter stated bluntly: “It has been determined that the remaining cost for permanent work is within the capabilities of the state and affected local governments. Accordingly, we have determined that a major disaster declaration is not necessary.”

As a result of the denial, Texas officials said West will be forced to absorb an estimated $57 million in public damages.

“I’d just like a little definition on what they consider a disaster,” said West Mayor Tommy Muska, a volunteer firefighter himself who helped battle the explosion and inferno that killed 15 and injured 160. “If they would see what I see, and if they saw what I saw and still see, I don’t understand how this is a disaster that doesn’t merit a declaration.”

The disappointed mayor must now face the daunting question of what to do next.  But Muska said that he will look into any and every avenue for help — including calling on soldiers at the Army base in Ft. Worth to come start rebuilding infrastructure, to reaching out to the National Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers for help.

“We need help, and we need it now so people don’t move away from our small town,” said Muska who visited with Gov. Perry to discuss plans on how to move forward.

The mayor said he will work with the governor’s office to prepare a letter of appeal to be sent to President Barack Obama. The letter will include additional information about the damage in West, with hopes that it will be enough to persuade FEMA to reconsider.

But FEMA officials countered that the agency already took into consideration a number of factors when assessing the request and that, “personnel at the Joint Field Office in West, TX and in the field are actively working with state and local officials to prepare project worksheets for reimbursement of costs related to debris removal and emergency protective measures.”

The agency said it has also helped some individuals and small businesses affected collect over $7 million in federal disaster aid.

Still, Josh Havens, a spokesman for Gov. Perry, said, “FEMA’s decision to deny funds was weird because in this case, a little town sustained enough loss to qualify for assistance on both local and state levels with one single localized event.”

Tony Gutierrez / AP

This April 18, 2013 aerial photo shows a destroyed fertilizer plant, top, following an explosion in West, Texas.

This is not the first time, however, that FEMA has turned down a request for assistance after a non-natural disaster emergency.

In 2010, the town of San Bruno, in Northern California, was denied millions of dollars in public funding after a major Pacific Gas and Electric pipeline explosion.

“At the time I was disappointed,” said San Bruno Mayor, Jim Ruane. “On a national basis, we weren’t recognized. No one said, ‘You people have been through this horrific explosion and the country is watching you and wanting you to rebuild and we want to help you though this.’”

Despite being denied funds from FEMA, PG&E as well as other entities, came forward to claim responsibility for the explosion in San Bruno, and established a $50 million trust fund for the city to help with rebuilding. The city also received $70 million to be used to establish a nonprofit from PG&E for the city as a whole.

Texas public officials would not comment on any litigation against Adair Grain, Inc., owner of the West plant, but two lawsuits have reportedly already been filed by a group of individuals and small businesses.

San Bruno’s Mayor Ruane said the best piece of advice he could offer the town of West is to, “get the city together and say that we as elected officials are there to hold their hand if they need it.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied additional aid to the Texas town devastated by a massive fertilizer plant explosion in April that leveled homes and could be felt as far as 80 miles away, Gov. Rick Perry's office confirmed to NBC News Tuesday

Perry's office said it received a letter from FEMA administrator Craig Fugate saying that the devastated town would not receive funds from the agency.

FEMA said in the letter that the damage from the explosion "is not of the severity and magnitude that warrants a major disaster declaration," according to the Associated Press.

The explosion in West, Texas on the evening of April 17 killed 15 people and injured hundreds more. Twelve of the dead were first responders who were battling a blaze at the West Fertilizer Co. plant on the outskirts of town before it exploded.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, FEMA spokesman Dan Watson said the agency had provided over $7 million in federal funds directly to families affected by the disaster, as well as emergency housing assistance and funds to help the state remove debris.

The town of about 2,800 people had asked for a total of about $57 million for work that included road repairs and included $40 million to rebuild a school flattened in the explosion, the AP reported.

“We don’t have the money to go out and borrow the money. We don’t have the means to pay that note back,” West Mayor Tommy Muska told the AP. “There’s got to be some public assistance.”

President Barack Obama and Texas Governor Rick Perry were in communication in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, and Perry said the president called from Air Force One to offer his support. The White House also indicated that federal agencies would support the town’s recovery in a statement.

“My administration, through FEMA and other agencies, is in close contact with our state and local partners on the ground to make sure there are no unmet needs as search and rescue operations continue,” the president said in an April press release. “West is a town that many Texans hold near and dear to their hearts, and as residents continue to respond to this tragedy, they will have the support of the American people.”

Insured losses from the blast could total more than $100 million, the Insurance Council of Texas has estimated.

Related:

• With homes shattered, students return to school in West, Texas
• 'Chaotic' scene at nursing home devastated by Texas fertilizer blast
• West, Texas, man charged with destructive device to plead not guilty

Pat Sullivan / AP

Dan Blackford, right, shows Rory Strain, 12, how to hold a shotgun at a shooting range in Houston. Strain lives in the northwest Houston community of Oak Forest, the first residential area being trained and equipped by a nonprofit that is giving away free shotguns to single women and people in neighborhoods with high crime rates.

While cities like New York, Los Angeles and Phoenix champion gun buyback events and programs, a gun giveaway group, called The Armed Citizen Project, has launched in Houston.

The founder of the nonprofit organization, Kyle Coplen, 29, said he had a few reasons behind his idea to arm "residents in high crime areas" and especially single mothers with a free pump-action shotgun and training.

He said his first and foremost priority is “to train and arm residents in high crime areas and let criminals know that they’re at risk if they break into their house.”

His secondary goals are to get people more comfortable with guns by providing them with shotguns — what he called a "gateway gun" — and to conduct a study to find out if an increase in guns in an area results in a decrease in crime.

Founded in January, the Armed Citizen Project is currently based in the Houston neighborhood of Oak Forest, which does not have the highest crime rate in Houston but according to Coplen, the community of about 400 houses had 100 home invasions last year.

Coplen, who has a master’s degree in public administration, is testing whether the crime rate will change if the gun handout works by "manipulating certainty of punishment and increasing severity" of consequences  for criminals.

Karen Clarke, 67, lives alone in Oak Forest and expressed that while she’s had a "healthy fear of guns" all her life, she went out and bought one last year after her 92-year-old neighbor’s house was broken into.

She practices shooting once a week at Shiloh Shooting Range, where the Armed Citizen Project conducts most of their lessons. She said she watches the people who are involved with the project go through training while she is there.

Clarke observed that they are watched as they learn, and that the volunteers that work for the Armed Citizen project “have pretty good intuition ... they are not going to turn these things loose to just anyone," but added, "This is a good idea if some nutcase doesn't get hold of one."

Pat Sullivan / AP

Kyle Coplen, founder of the nonprofit Armed Citizens Project, talks at a shooting range, in Houston about the program to give free shotguns and training to neighborhood residents.

Coplen is not worried about a nutcase getting a hold of a gun through his program since every applicant is background checked and trained. The training takes one day. He said most are able to pick up a gun from the dealer within two to three weeks of applying.

Coplen also is not worried about lawsuits because, he said, “that is their weapon, we’re simply removing the cost barrier. There is no liability on our behalf.”

Sanford Levinson, an expert in constitutional law and professor of government at the University of Texas Law School said in an email that "efforts to promote 'armed citizens' are in no way illegal."

But, he noted, “even if one concedes that it (probably) deters some crime, that has to be weighted against the (probable) consequence that it also increases the number of suicides or gun accidents."

While Coplen may not have concerns about the legalities of handing out guns in Texas, he does have plans to expand the project to other cities including New York and Chicago, where gun laws are considerably stricter.

Pat Sullivan / AP

In this Sunday, May 19, 2013, photo, Cheryl Strain, right, watches as instructor Scott Stevens, center, shows her son Rory, 12, how to properly hold a shotgun at a shooting range in Houston. The Strains live in the first residential area being trained and equipped by a nonprofit that is giving away free shotguns to single women and neighborhoods with high crime rates.

A professor of constitutional law and the courts at NYU School of Law, James Jacobs said that Coplen “might run into some problems as a straw purchaser in some states."

He added, "In New York, the law is written that you have to prove to the police that you are qualified to have a gun in your house,” and explained that in Texas the opposite is true, because people have to prove they are not qualified to handle a gun before the firearm is taken away.

Coplen called the New York and Chicago gun laws “problems on paper."

He said New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly “said they are going to use the permitting process to single us out. If they’re going to deny folks their second amendment rights, that’s a challenge I’m willing to go up against.”

Besides, Coplen said his initiative “transcends politics” since he describes it as "Joe Biden’s love of shotguns [mixed] with Obama’s love of redistribution."

Houston Police Department

Ana Lilia Trujillo, 44, is accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend repeatedly in the head with a stiletto heel at a luxury high-rise condo in Houston on Sunday, according to police. She has been charged with murder, they said.

A Texas woman faces a charge of murder after allegedly fatally stabbing a man with a stiletto heel at a luxury condominium early Sunday, Houston police said.

Ana Lilia Trujillo, 44, is accused of gouging a 59-year-old man with a stiletto multiple times, leaving puncture wounds all over his head, according to a Houston Police Department news release issued Monday.

Trujillo has been charged with murder in the 338th State District Court, the release said.

Police responded to a report of an assault at The Parklane high-rise condominium complex in Houston’s Theater District shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday. Trujillo opened the door to the unit for police, who discovered the man’s body on the floor, according to a statement from HPD patrol officers.

Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com

The slain man has not been identified by officials, but police described him as Trujillo’s “boyfriend” in the news release. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the stabbing shortly after responders showed up, the patrol officers said.

A Texas woman has been arrested in connection with the mailing of three letters containing a form of the poison ricin to President Obama, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, federal authorities said.

Shannon Rogers Guess Richardson of New Boston, Texas, originally called the Federal Bureau of Investigation claiming that her husband had sent the letters, officials said. The investigators found that she had sent the letters herself, they said.

Richardson is an actress with minor roles on television shows like The Walking Dead and the Vampire Diaries, and was arrested in Arkansas on charges that will be filed Friday afternoon, the authorities said. She has five sons, according to the New York Times.

Her husband, Nathaniel Richardson, is an Army veteran

Investigators have been probing who sent the three letters, all postmarked May 20 from Shreveport, La. and sent without a return address, authorities have said.

The letters sent to Obama and Bloomberg were discovered during routine mail screenings processes. The letter to the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Mark Glaze, was opened.

“You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns,” the message sent to Bloomberg read, according to NBC New York, which obtained a copy of the letter. “Anyone who wants to come to my house will get shot in the face. The right to bear arms is my constitutional God given right and I will exercise that right till the day I die.”

The toxin ricin can be made from castor beans, has no antidote, and takes about 36 hours to kill.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a group that advocates for stronger gun laws and was founded by Bloomberg.

“I trust the police department and I feel perfectly safe,” Bloomberg said regarding the threatening letters on his weekly radio show in May. “I’ve got more danger from lightning than from anything else and I’ll go about my business.”

In a separate case involving ricin in recent months, police arrested James Everett Dutschke, 41, on charges that he sent letters containing ricin to the president and other officials in a separate case. The martial arts instructor has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set of July 29, Reuters reported.

NBC News

Letter addressed to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that was found to contain a form of the poison ricin. The letter is postmarked May 20 from Shreveport, La.

Related:

• Letter mailed to Pres. Obama tested positive for ricin
• Mayor Bloomberg on ricin letters: I feel perfectly safe
• Who sent ricin letters to Bloomberg, Obama?

David J. Phillip / AP

Houston Fire Department Chief Terry Garrison, right, presents a flag to the parents of fallen firefighter Anne Sullivan, Mary, left, and Jack Sullivan, during a memorial service for fallen Houston firefighters Wednesday in Houston.

Thousands of first-responders gathered in Houston on Wednesday for an emotional tribute to four firefighters killed in a deadly blaze last week.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Houston Mayor Annise Parker and 15,000 mourners assembled in Reliant Stadium to praise the heroism of victims Robert Bebee, Matthew Renaud, Anne Sullivan and Robert Garner, who died Friday -- the deadliest day in the Houston First Department's 118-year history. Thirteen other firefighters were injured.

Victims' families entered the memorial as firefighters stood and saluted them. Pictures of the fallen men and women were displayed on screens throughout the stadium, which is the home to the NFL's Houston Texans.

"When the Mayday sounded last Friday here in Houston, I truly believe our members left this earthly place and immediately stood at attention on the row call in Heaven," said Houston Fire Chief Terry Garrison.

After his remarks, Garrison knelt in front of each of the families and presented them with a flag.

Along with the thousands of first-responders in attendance, thousands more around Texas and the country watched the service remotely. Firefighters from the Dallas Fire Department and across the state helped back-fill in Houston as colleagues of the four attended the service, The Houston Chronicle reported.

"These are hard days. It is a painful day. But it's also a necessary day. It is our duty to honor these four individuals represented here. Four people who sacrificed everything in the service of their community," said Perry.

Following the Texas governor, representatives from each of the families delivered moving tributes to their loved ones.

Nicole Garner, sister to Robert Garner, said just weeks before he died that her brother told her that being a firefighter was what he needed to do with his life. "My brother died fulfilling his dream," she said.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fatal blaze at a motel in Houston. When first-responders attempted to rescue motel guests, the building collapsed on them and they became trapped, fire department officials said.

"It is always too soon to say gooodbye to another fallen hero. It breaks our hearts to say goodbye to four," said Parker. "The oath that they and all firefighters swear isn't to come when it's convenient, isn't to come when it's safe; it is to come and serve."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

The seemingly relentless wave of severe weather striking Oklahoma and other Southern Plains states was threatening again Wednesday.

A risk of severe thunderstorms was forecast from eastern New Mexico and Colorado, across Oklahoma and parts of Texas and Kansas, to Arkansas and southern Missouri, according to weather.com.

Flood warnings were also in effect in the Mississippi Valley from northern Illinois to Louisiana.

Get more from weather.com

Slideshow: Tornadoes hit central Oklahoma

KFOR-TV

Click to view scenes from Friday's violent storm.

Launch slideshow

While the tornado risk appeared to be lower than it was when powerful twisters plagued the area, particularly Oklahoma, weather.com forecasters said pockets of large hail and damaging wind gusts were a concern in the Plains.

Early Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for several counties in north-central Oklahoma and south-central Kansas, with severe thunderstorm watches in effect in surrounding areas.

Oklahoma was under flash-flood watches across much of its south-central region, with 2 to 4 inches of additional localized rain expected to fall Wednesday and Thursday on the already drenched soil, the weather service said.

Oklahoma City and its suburbs of Moore and El Reno — both devastated by recent tornadoes — were among the areas under flash-flood watches.

Oklahoma City and El Reno were under severe thunderstorm watches. The weather service said some tornadoes were possible.

The forecasts came as Oklahoma City and its suburbs continued to dig out from devastating storms, including Friday's El Reno tornado, which is believed to be the largest on record in the United States, stretching 2.6 miles across.

The EF-5 tornado, with winds well over 200 mph, and its resulting flooding killed 19 people, including six children, the Oklahoma Department of Health said.

That came less than two weeks after a tornado killed 24 people in Moore. The storms prompted Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin to declare a state of emergency in 41 counties.

Related: 

• El Reno tornado widest on record
• Levee breaks bring Mo. evacuations
• More weather coverage from NBC News

FBI

U.S. Marine Armando Torres III was kidnapped along with his father and uncle at a ranch in Mexico near the border with the United States.

The FBI has appealed for help in finding Armando Torres III, a U.S. Marine who was kidnapped in Mexico along with his father and uncle.

In a statement on its website, the FBI said Torres had gone just across the border to visit his father’s ranch in La Barranca, Tamaulipas, on May 14, when he was abducted.

His father Armando Torres II and uncle Salvador Torres, both Mexican citizens, were also taken.

“Shortly after he (Torres) arrived at the ranch, armed gunmen entered the ranch and took all three Torres family members by force. They have not been seen or heard from since this event,” the FBI statement said.

A criminal investigation is underway in Mexico and the FBI said it was also conducting an “international kidnapping investigation and is vigorously pursuing all investigative leads.”

The statement said Armando Torres III was a U.S. Marine and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

His sister Cristina Torres, 24, who lives in Virginia, told The Monitor newspaper, which is based in McAllen, Texas, that the family thought the kidnapping was related to a land dispute as drug traffickers have been trying to get the property because of its position close to the border.

She also said that her cousin witnessed the kidnapping.

“She saw a white truck with people in it and they just went in the house and got my brother and my dad and my uncle and just put them in the truck and took off,” Cristina Torres said. “They took a lot of their belongings in the house and they took the cars, as well.”

The Monitor said the kidnapped Marine, of Hargill, Texas, has two children, aged 4 and 3.

Friends and fellow Marines have started a Facebook group called “Get Our Brother Back” in support of Torres. It had 1,372 members at 6:40 a.m. ET Tuesday.

Related:

• Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X, slain in Mexico
• Teen among 11 kidnapped in daylight from Mexico City bar
• Mexican journalists' sons killed; seven bodies found near Mexico City