The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested an 18-year-old man accused of planning a mass-casualty attack at the Mall of America in Minnesota in support of Islamic State (ISIS).
The suspect, identified as Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly obtaining an assault-style rifle and about 200 rounds of ammunition from an undercover FBI employee posing as an ISIS associate, ABC News reported.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest in an X post, describing it as “another ISIS-inspired mass casualty plot stopped.”
“This FBI is finding terrorists BEFORE they can attack Americans,” Patel said, adding that the agency would continue using its resources to dismantle terrorist networks.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Mohamud had been under investigation for nearly two years after communicating with an FBI confidential source about joining ISIS or another terrorist organisation.
Prosecutors allege that after failing to raise enough money to travel overseas, Mohamud discussed carrying out an attack in Minnesota on behalf of ISIS.
He allegedly planned to target the Mall of America during a Hmong Arts Celebration event scheduled for October 24, which he believed would draw a large crowd.
Authorities said Mohamud paid $600 for the rifle and ammunition during a meeting with an undercover FBI employee in Richfield, Minnesota, before he was arrested.
The FBI said no attack occurred and no one was injured in the operation.
U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen said the investigation enabled authorities to identify and disrupt the alleged threat before the planned attack could take place.
Mohamud faces a federal charge of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing or having reason to believe they would be used to commit a federal crime of terrorism.
The allegations are contained in a criminal complaint and have not been proven in court.