By Matt Largey, KUT News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-979677.mp3
Austin, TX – Police in Killeen say they expect federal charges to be filed against a soldier they say was planning to attack military personnel at Fort Hood. Private First Class Nasser Abdo was arrested yesterday following a tip from a clerk at a Killeen gun store. KUT's Matt Largey reports.
On Tuesday, Abdo went to the same gun store where Major Nidal Hassan bought the guns he used in the shooting rampage at Fort Hood in November 2009.
Greg Ebert is a clerk at the gun store.
Ebert: "He arrived in a taxi, which was kind of unusual."
Abdo bought bullets, a magazine for a pistol and six pounds of smokeless gunpowder. Ebert says it would have been an ordinary exchange, if Abdo hadn't asked what smokeless gunpowder was.
Ebert: "That's a red flag to me. Why are you buying six pounds of this stuff and you don't know what it is?"
Ebert contacted local police, who along with Fort Hood and federal authorities, arrested Abdo at a motel in Killeen. They found what they called "bomb-making materials" there. Abdo was listed as AWOL from his post at Fort Campbell Kentucky.
He was also wanted there on child pornography charges. The 21 year old soldier, who is Muslim, had requested conscientious objector status earlier this year.