kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and KilleenUpdate: AWOL soldier arrested in Killeen with weapons, explosives

An AWOL U.S. soldier facing a court-martial was under investigation over a possible plot to attack the U.S. military base at Fort Hood.

Killeen police arrested Pfc. Naser J. Abdo, 21, of Garland, Texas, on Wednesday at a motel near Fort Hood, police said.

 Abdo, who was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., was arrested at an America's Best Value Inn on South Fort Hood Road.

Police went to Abdo's motel room on a tip from a gun dealer who said Abdo was asking suspicious questions about components often used in pipe bombs. Explosives were found in the room and in a backpack, the officials said.

A U.S. military official said Abdo was overheard saying he wanted to attack Fort Hood and that he repeated the statement after he was in custody. Authorities said it was not clear whether his alleged intended targets were soldiers in general or specific individuals on the base.

Police said Abdo was arrested on a child pornography warrant, police said. He had been wanted since he went AWOL earlier this month after he was recommended for a court-martial in a child pornography investigation at Fort Campbell.

A spokesman for the FBI said Abdo would likely be charged with possession of bomb-making materials. The Killeen Police Department will hold a press conference at 2 p.m.

Abdo was approved for conscientious objector status last year after he argued that his Muslim beliefs prohibited military service, but his discharge was put on hold pending resolution of the child pornography charges. Abdo said that he believed he was being discriminated against, NBC station WLEX-TV of Lexington, Ky., reported.

The gun store where Abdo was first identified by a clerk was the same Killeen store where the suspect in the 2009 shootings, Maj. Nidal Hasan, bought a gun, ammunition and laser sights that he allegedly used.

"We are aware at this time that Killeen Police Department arrested a soldier yesterday," Fort Hood said in a statement. "We continue our diligence in keeping our force protection at appropriate levels."

This suspect is expected to face federal charges, possibly as early as this afternoon.

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) released a statement "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."

MSNBC and CNN contributed to this report.