Police Avert Potential Terror Attack

Naser Jason Abdo...Wanted to copycat the massacre of more than a year ago

13 people died and 32 were wounded in 2009 attack

Those who died in 2009

2009

2009

2009

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2009

Police in the US are investigating a reported "terror plot" after they arrested a missing solider near the Fort Hood army base in Texas. In an unsettling echo of the deadly attack on the base in 2009 investigators say the soldier was planning to target military personnel. It's only a year and a half since Fort Hood was the scene of the worst mass shooting ever inflicted on a US military installation.

Now a 21 year old US army soldier identified as Naser Jason Abdo has been arrested in a hotel room in the nearby town of Killeen with possible "bomb-making materials". Police aren't detailing exactly what was found but American media are reporting there was gunpowder, shotgun shells and a quantity of sugar, possibly to enhance explosives. There were reportedly also Christmas lights that could have been used to act as a timer and a backpack containing jihadi literature.

The soldier had gone absent without leave from Kentucky in early July after being charged with child pornography offences. Military officials say he'd been granted conscientious objector status last year after he said his Muslim beliefs meant he couldn't fight.
Abdo has reportedly admitted he wanted to "get even" and was inspired by the 2009 attack on Fort Hood by an army psychiatrist which killed 13 people and wounded 32 others. He'd apparently hoped to explode bombs at two restaurants popular with Fort Hood personnel and planned to use a pistol to shoot any survivors.
Officials say the soldier sparked suspicion when he walked into the same gun store used by the 2009 shooter. Abdo reportedly bought half a dozen canisters of smokeless gunpowder but appeared uncertain about what it was. The store owner reported him to authorities.
Authorities say there's no evidence of a wider plot. Abdo is looking like a lone wolf.