(Image source from: WJAR)

In use of guns and homemade bombs, the son of Boston police captain pleaded guilty to attack a college campus in support of Islamic state group.

Alexander Ciccolo was arrested in July 2015 after receiving four guns he ordered from a person who was cooperating with Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Robert Ciccolo, right away alerted authorities after his son confessed saying he anted to join the Islamic State group.

Ciccolo pleaded guilty a month before he was scheduled to go for trial as he faced 20 years in prison when he was sentenced in September. He was initially charged with a felony of possessing a firearm and stabbing a nurse with a pen and later charged on attempting material support ti Foreign organization.

‘‘Any material support of a terrorist organization threatens our national security, and had Mr. Ciccolo’s efforts to advance his agenda not been thwarted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, countless lives could have been lost in a lethal terrorist attack,’’ Harold Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston field office, said in a statement.

According to the authorities, Ciccolo planned to commit acts of terrorism using assault riffles and homemade bombs similar to the pressure cooker bombs.

Federal authorities said Ciccolo’s case is a reminder that homegrown radicalization remains a threat and that citizens must speak up when they become aware of a potential threat.

A post on Ciccolo’s Facebook included a picture of dead American soldier saying, “Thank you Islamic state!.”

By Sowmya Sangam