Federal officials said Melaku had bombmaking materials in his backpack, and they later found a self-made videotape of him shouting “Allahu Akbar!” after he fired shots at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Prince William County in October.
Melaku was charged in federal court Thursday with shooting at the museum and at the Pentagon in October — two of the five attacks that occurred in the late-night or early-morning hours and appeared to target locations related to the Marines.
Police had speculated that the person responsible was associated with the Marines — and they were right. Melaku enlisted with the reserves in 2007, went to Parris Island, S.C., for boot camp and had attained the rank of lance corporal with a combat engineer unit based in Baltimore.
But a motive for the shootings — and why Melaku had possible bombmaking materials — remains elusive.
Law enforcement officials said in court documents that when Melaku was arrested last Friday morning, he had plastic baggies with ammonium nitrate — a readily available material that can be used in explosives and was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing — as well as a notebook that included references to Osama bin Laden and “The Path to Jihad.”
FBI agents said in court papers that they found instructions for making a timer for an improvised explosive device at Melaku’s home on Sage Drive in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County. They also found a list with some of the materials for the device, including a battery and wires.
At a news conference Thursday, prosecutors and FBI agents declined to comment on why Melaku might have been targeting the military.
“Today’s charges allege a pattern of violent behavior. . . . We believe his statements that he’s targeting military installations speak to his desire to engage in violent activity against the military,” said U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride.
Law enforcement sources said that it was unclear what religion Melaku follows and that they were investigating that aspect of his life; leaders at the mosques near his home said they did not know Melaku or his family.
Melaku is a naturalized U.S. citizen who moved to the United States from Ethiopia in 2005, authorities said. He graduated from Edison High School in Franconia in 2006. Like other students, he posed in a tuxedo for his yearbook photograph; school officials said he did not list any extracurricular activities.
Melaku lives in a two-story redbrick townhome with a two-car garage and long concrete steps leading to the front door. The curtains were drawn Thursday, and neighbors said they rarely saw the people who lived there. They said Melaku’s father is a cabdriver who could be seen outside frequently watering flowers or cutting grass.
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