Ohio University campus attack could be latest terror case in heartland state

Cincinnati: The car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University last week is the latest in a series of cases involving young men who apparently became radicalised in the heartland state.

Their cases are similar in some ways but very different in others. All show the challenges to understanding what causes someone to embrace Islamic State calls to violence and how to spot homegrown terrorists.

The director of the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell says research shows that the time it takes to become radicalised varies. He says someone living a seemingly normal life can be derailed in just days or weeks.

Three of the four young men who've been accused in the recent Ohio cases were arrested before carrying out their alleged plans.