Abdo is alleged to have planned the bombing because of his opposition as a Muslim to the U.S. War in Afghanistan . However , the US Attorney in the case , Robert Pitman , compared the plot to the 2012 mass murders by two other American men : the shootings at a movie theatre in Aurora , Colorado and at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee . He said that Abdo had planned to use violence " to advance his twisted agenda . " Abdo was born to Carlisa Morlan and Jamal Rateb Abdo in Garland , Texas , north of Dallas . His mother is an American Christian , and his father is a Jordanian Muslim . When Naser was 3 , his parents divorced , and he lived most of his childhood with his father . In Garland , the boy attended Richardson Terrace Elementary School , South Garland High School and Berkner High School . According to Abdo 's 2010 statement to the Army , at the age of 17 , he began practicing Islam . The following year , he took classes in mass communication at the American University in Dubai
Sikh temple
Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting
Naser Jason Abdo