Rep. Keith Self says he was never in danger from alleged assassination plot by McKinney teen

U.S. Rep. Keith Self says he was never in any real danger from an alleged assassination plot involving a 17-year-old boy from his hometown of McKinney.

By the time U.S. Capitol Police notified him of the threat, federal authorities had already arrested the teenager, Self said.

"When we knew about it, they had him," Self, R-McKinney, told CBS News Texas. "... It's more routine than you would think with members of Congress."

Self said he did not know the wording of the threat or how or where it was made.

He said law enforcement informed him that the McKinney teenager had planned to make waves, "perhaps try to shoot at me," and carry out a terrorist attack. He said it was unclear exactly what that meant.

"The FBI, through the Capitol Police, only tells us so much," Self said.

Self said he did not know how the FBI uncovered the alleged assassination plot, but believed authorities had been aware of the teenager before his arrest.

"I understand that they've known about this kid for a while," he said.

Self declined to speculate about what motivated the alleged plot but said the teenager was "somehow under the influence of the things that we see happening in Texas and certainly in McKinney."

"It's a very unsettled time," Self said. "We see it, we feel it."

Self said he had received threats before, "but not to this degree and not any that action was taken by law enforcement."

Still, he said he was not fazed by the threat.

"I was in the military for 25 years, deployed multiple times," he said. "I also knew that the law enforcement had him under control. Now, it would have been a little different if they had said, 'There's an unknown threat out there.'"

Meanwhile, Self said he was "very grateful" to the FBI for acting before the alleged threat could be carried out.

"So often we hear that somebody does something and then you find out later that the FBI had him on some sort of watch list and didn't take action," Self said. "So I am very grateful that the FBI took action in this case."

Efforts to reach the FBI and Capitol Police for comment have been unsuccessful.

CBS News Texas will provide updates as more information becomes available.