BREAKING: FBI Arrests 18-Year-Old Planning ISIS Inspired Terror Attack At The Mall Of America

The FBI thwarted an attack on the Mall of America by a teenager after agents supplied him with an assault rifle, authorities announced Wednesday.

The 18-year-old had been under investigation for nearly two years, trading messages with a confidential informant, before agents sold him the rifle and ammunition, they said.

“This was a radicalized young man who needed to be watched,” U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said as he praised the FBI investigation. Agents “were able to detect a threat, and disrupt it, before the defendant carried out his intention to kill, in his words, maybe 30 to 60 people, as we allege in far greater detail in the complaint.”

Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, was arrested Tuesday in a public park in Richfield, several miles northwest of the Mall of America, after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of ISIS for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint.

Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, was arrested Tuesday in a public park after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of ISIS for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint.

In text messages with a confidential FBI source, Mohamud repeatedly affirmed his intent to carry out an attack to kill non-Muslims, the complaint said. It was not immediately known if the teen had an attorney who might speak on his behalf.

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U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Dan Rosen says the FBI has arrested and charged 18-year-old Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud for planning a mass casualty attack in support of ISIS at the Mall of America pic.twitter.com/MyMZa6NMCo

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 7, 2026

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TERROR PLOT FOILED #BREAKING: Minnesota ISIS Sympathizer Arrested for Plotting Mass-Casualty Attack at Mall of America. Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud now facing federal charges for receiving a firearm and ammo to commit a crime of terrorism. @FOX9 pic.twitter.com/yBH3FAMIUP

— Paul Blume (@PaulBlume_FOX9) October 7, 2026

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BREAKING: Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud has been arrested in Minnesota after he allegedly planned to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at the Mall of America.

He reportedly said he wanted to kiII at least 30 people, including non-muslims. pic.twitter.com/da5dQBbHKT

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 7, 2026

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In another message last month, the affidavit says, he wrote that he had been watching video of the 2016 attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and thought he could do the same. “I just walk in and shoot,” he wrote.

The complaint also notes Mohamud posted a video on Discord last month in which he allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS.

On Tuesday, Mohamud was arrested at gunpoint during an arranged meeting with the source to purchase an AK-47-style assault rifle for $600. The affidavit says he had left an undercover employee’s vehicle with the rifle, four magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition when he was arrested. The filing describes the weapon as a Norinco AK-47 assault rifle, model Mac-90 Sporter, and the ammunition as about 200 live rounds of 7.62×39-caliber.

Authorities allege Mohamud “knowingly received a firearm and ammunition” knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, they would be used to commit a felony and a federal crime of terrorism, including providing or conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dotson are scheduled to hold a news conference at noon Wednesday on “a significant counterterrorism law enforcement action.” It’s not clear whether it concerns Mohamud’s case.

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