The convicted soldier was arrested following a tip from a gun store owner who became alarmed by the confused attempts to buy weapons and smokeless gunpowder. The convict was arrested at a motel room in Killeen, Texas. At the time of his arrest, he had items for creating a bomb in his backpack and an article from an Al Qaeda publication titled “How To Build A Bomb In The Kitchen Of Your Mom.”
The investigation and trial showed that Abdo had a typical terrorist attack in mind. Witnesses testified at the trial that he planned to detonate the bomb at Chinese restaurant near the main gate of Fort Hood, which is frequented by soldiers and their families. After that, Abdo had the dream to open fire on victims trying to flee the bombing and also fire on first responders rushing to save victims. One of the investigators said that Abdo referred to civilians he planned to kill as “collateral damage.”
He was convicted at a trial in May. And on Friday, US District Judge Walter Smith gave Abdo two consecutive life prison sentences for possession of a weapon to commit a violent crime and for attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman said, “This prosecution demonstrates that those who use or plan violence to further their twisted agendas will be prosecuted as aggressively as the law allows, and will, as in this case, spend the rest of their lives staring at the wall of a prison cell.”