Mall of America terror plot: teenager arrested over alleged ISIS shooting plan

Federal authorities have arrested an 18-year-old man accused of planning an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting targeting the Mall of America in Minnesota.

Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud was taken into custody on Tuesday in a public park in Richfield, just outside Minneapolis, after buying a Norinco AK-47 assault rifle and roughly 200 rounds of ammunition for $600, according to a federal criminal complaint. The seller was an undercover FBI employee posing as an ISIS operative.

Prosecutors say Mohamud intended to carry out the attack on 24 October at the shopping centre in Bloomington, selecting a date when a Hmong arts celebration was scheduled to take place. In messages sent to an FBI confidential informant, Mohamud repeatedly stated his intention to slaughter non-Muslims, telling the source he aimed to kill "maybe 30 to 60 people".

Under investigation since 2024

The FBI first turned its attention to Mohamud in December 2024, when a confidential source began exchanging encrypted messages with him. According to court records, Mohamud expressed admiration for mass-casualty attacks around the world and initially voiced a desire to travel to Somalia to fight for ISIS. When he decided he could not afford travel overseas, he turned his sights on domestic targets, settling on the Bloomington mall.

Federal agents became sufficiently concerned by May 2025 to pay an unannounced visit to Mohamud's family home. His mother told agents he was still at school, and his father declined an interview, saying he would pass the agents' contact information to an attorney.

Court appearance and official response

Mohamud appeared in federal court in St Paul on Wednesday wearing a yellow jail uniform. He faces federal terrorism-related charges for attempting to acquire a firearm to commit a felony and an act of terrorism. It was not immediately clear whether he had retained defence counsel or had an attorney assigned to speak on his behalf.

US Attorney Daniel Rosen described Mohamud as an American-born US citizen of Somali descent who had become heavily radicalised online.

"This was a radicalized young man who needed to be watched," Rosen said, commending the joint counterterrorism operation. Agents "were able to detect a threat, and disrupt it, before the defendant carried out his intention to kill."

Rosen also directed a pointed message to families across the region, urging them to intervene if their children show signs of adopting violent extremist beliefs. "If you get any indication — especially if you hear from federal law enforcement — that your son or daughter is being radicalized, to the point where federal law enforcement wants to come and give you that warning, those are warnings that ought to be heeded," Rosen said.