The son of a US police captain has been arrested for allegedly planning to use a number of pressure cooker bombs at a university in an Islamic State-inspired (IS) attack.
Alexander Ciccolo, 23, was detained by police on July 4, US Independence Day, for unlawfully receiving two handguns and two rifles from an undercover witness who was working with terrorism investigators, Sky News reports.
Ciccolo's father, Captain Robert Ciccolo, said his son had a long history of mental illness and he alerted the FBI last year after he began talking about joining IS.
The 23-year-old was put under surveillance by the FBI after alerts were raised over his posts on social media.
He was seen buying at least one pressure cooker at a Walmart and he allegedly told a police informant he wanted to build a bomb similar to the one used in the Boston Marathon attack in 2013, according to an affidavit.
The attack left three people dead and 264 others injured.
FBI Special Agent Paul Ambrogio told Sky News partially-built bombs were found in Ciccolo's apartment.
"These incendiary devices contained what appeared to be shredded Styrofoam soaking in motor oil."
Is it also alleged Ciccolo stabbed a nurse in the head with a pen when he was taken to the Franklin County House of Corrections.
Ciccolo will appear in court on Tuesday (local time) for a bail hearing.
3 News
