Army: GI admits to Ft. Hood attack plan

KILLEEN, Texas (AP/KXAN) - An AWOL Muslim soldier who had weapons stashed in a motel room near Fort Hood admitted planning an attack on the Texas post, where 13 people died in 2009 in the worst mass shooting ever on a U.S. military installation, the Army said in an alert issued Thursday.

Police and military officials said Army Pfc. Naser J. Abdo, 21, assigned to Ft. Campbell, Ky., was overheard making the statements and that after his arrest, he kept making them. He was arrested in Killeen on Wednesday.

Federal officials said a search of Abdo's motel room in Killeen turned up explosives. The Public Affairs Officer at Fort Hood said Killeen police arrested Abdo, who allegedly had explosives and weapons.

Police Chief Dennis Baldwin, Killeen Police Department, said Thursday in an afternoon press conference that Abdo was arrested at 2:03 p.m. on Wednesday on a warrant from Fort Campbell Provost Marshal's Office, charged with possession of obscene materials and  being absent without leave. Baldwin said he anticipated federal charges against Abdo are to come in the future. He said there are no threats to the community  now.

Baldwin said it did not appear that Abdo was working in concert with anyone else.

"As far as we know, he did act alone," Baldwin told reporters during a mid-afternoon news conference. "He was taken down rather quickly, and without incident."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved in the investigation.

"We are aware at this time that Killeen Police Department arrested a soldier yesterday," Fort Hood officials said in a statement released around 9:40 a.m. Thursday.

"We continue our diligence in keeping our force protection at appropriate levels," read the press release.

Abdo was charged by the Army in June with possessing child pornography, but after his initial hearing in the military justice system, he went AWOL. Police in Killeen arrested him Wednesday, when a search turned up explosives.

A tweet on CNN's Twitter roll midday Thursday said that a law enforcement official said jihadi literature was found in the suspect's backpack.

Chad Cheadle, the owner of Guns Galore, a Kileen gun shop, said that Abdo came into the store at about 6 p.m., bought shotgun shells, a shooting magazine and six pounds of smokeless gunpowder. He allegedly asked about smokeless gun powder after browsing for about 20 minutes. Cheadle and a co-worker, Greg Ebert, felt uncomfortable about the purchase and later contacted police.

"(We) felt uncomfortable with his overall demeanor and the fact he didn't know what the hell he was buying," Ebert said. "I thought it prudent to contact the local authorities, which I did."

Guns Galore is the same shop where Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly purchased guns and ammunition before his shooting rampage at Fort Hood in 2009.

One official said after Abdo was arrested, he continued to say he wanted to attack soldiers outside Fort Hood, though another official said it's not clear whether his intended targets were Army soldiers in general or specific individuals.

Pentagon officials said he has never deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan and in fact had applied for conscientious objector status based in part on the fact that he is a Muslim. His request was initially approved, but his subsequent discharge was on hold after the discovery of the child pornography.

Police located a cab driver, who told them the name of the motel where Abdo was staying. They questioned him at his room, then placed him under arrest. Killeen police learned from the taxi company that Abdo had been picked up from a local motel and that he also had visited an Army surplus store where he paid cash for a uniform bearing Fort Hood unit patches, according to the Army alert.

Explosives were found, a federal official said, in the room and in a backpack there.

The Army alert sent via email and obtained by The Associated Press says the man arrested by Killeen police "was in possession of a large quantity of ammunition, weapons and a bomb inside a backpack." Upon questioning, the alert says, he admitted to planning an attack on Fort Hood.

An Oklahoma attorney who has represented Abdo said Thursday he hadn't heard from Abdo in weeks and learned of the arrest from a Texas television station.

"I've been quite anxious to get in touch with him," said attorney James Branum.

CNN reported comments from the House Army  Caucus chairman, Rep. John Carter, R-Texas.

"Thanks to quick action by a Texas gun dealer in alerting local police to a suspicious character, and a prompt and vigorous response by the Killeen Police Department, we may well have averted a repeat of the tragic 2009 radical Islamic terror attack on our nation's largest military installation," said Carter. "We now have an example of what works to prevent these type attacks, and as the coming days reveal more details about this attempt, we can determine better ways to thwart similar efforts in the future."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a statement Thursday