Minnesota teen charged in ISIS shooting plot at Mall of America
A Minnesota teenager has been arrested on allegations that he planned a mass shooting at the Mall of America in support of ISIS, according to federal prosecutors. He allegedly wanted to kill 30 to 60 people during an arts celebration later this month.
Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, of Richfield, was arrested on Tuesday after buying a disabled AK-47 rifle, four 30-round magazines and about 200 rounds of live ammunition from an undercover FBI employee, according to the criminal complaint. The planned target was the Mall of America in Bloomington, south of Minneapolis.
The suspect paid $600 cash during a recorded meeting inside the undercover employee’s vehicle near his home. He reaffirmed his plan to shoot people at the mall and was arrested at gunpoint shortly after leaving the vehicle with the weapon and ammunition. The FBI had rendered the rifle inoperable before the sale.
The investigation began in December 2024, when the suspect started exchanging hundreds of messages with a confidential FBI source through Telegram, Signal, Discord and TikTok. He discussed traveling to Somalia to join a terrorist organization and repeatedly said he would carry out an attack in Minnesota if he could not afford the trip.
The source, a paid FBI informant, posed as an ISIS member in Syria and later offered to connect the suspect with someone who sold guns, according to the complaint.
In July, the suspect said he did not have enough money to travel to Somalia and would instead attack in the United States. He initially discussed buying pistols and targeting the Mall of America or Valleyfair around Christmas.
He then focused on the mall because he claimed it was owned by Jews. In messages cited in the complaint, he said killing at least 30 people would stop others from going there and expressed a desire to emulate the Bondi Beach mass shooting in Australia.
In August, the suspect discussed recruiting someone from an online group of ISIS supporters to join the attack. He said he would carry out the shooting alone if no one could participate.
By September, he had selected October 24. “I can’t wait until I kill kuffar, man. October 24 is the day,” he wrote, using a derogatory term for non-Muslims.
Asked why he chose that date, the suspect said numerous Asians and other non-Muslims would be celebrating at the mall. He sent the source a link to a “Hmong Arts Celebration.”
The suspect also sent a video pledging allegiance to ISIS. A screenshot included in the complaint showed him with a red and white scarf covering his face and head.
Other messages expressed support for the 2025 New Year’s Day vehicle attack in New Orleans and a desire to imitate the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
When the source asked in September whether he was certain he wanted to proceed and told him he could back out, the suspect replied that he was “100% committed,” according to the complaint.
During Tuesday’s purchase, the suspect told the undercover employee that he planned to return home with the weapon when his mother was away. The employee had identified himself as an active ISIS member.
The suspect was charged on Wednesday with one count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition to commit a federal crime of terrorism, according to the Justice Department.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
