FBI foils ISIS-inspired mass shooting plot at Minnesota’s Mall of America

Federal agents arrested an 18-year-old Minnesota man after he paid an undercover operative for an assault rifle and hundreds of rounds as part of a planned mass shooting at the Mall of America in support of ISIS.

Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, a U.S. citizen of Somali descent, now faces a federal terrorism charge after the FBI disrupted the plot through a long-running sting. The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota announced the case, confirming agents stopped the planned attack before it could unfold.

The Washington Examiner reported that Mohamud had been under investigation since December 2024 as part of the yearslong operation that ended with his arrest and charging.

Investigators say Mohamud sought to kill large numbers of people at the crowded mall. He focused on a date when a public celebration would draw heavy foot traffic. His messages showed clear intent to strike in the name of the terrorist group and to target Jews.

Similar FBI work has interrupted other domestic threats, including the arrest of an Albany woman in an alleged ISIS-inspired plot to bomb the New York State Capitol.

Mohamud allegedly told a confidential source he could not wait to kill non-believers and set October 24 as the day. He shifted earlier talk of traveling to join al-Shabaab in Somalia into a domestic attack plan. He even recorded a selfie video pledging allegiance to ISIS.

On or around September 25 he met someone he believed was a loyal ISIS member. He bought a Chinese-made Norinco AK-47-style rifle, magazines, and 200 rounds of ammunition for $600. Authorities say he intended to use that weapon in a high-traffic public area within weeks.

Fox News detailed the charge: knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a federal crime of terrorism. Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dotson of FBI Minneapolis described the transaction and the planned timing.

“Mohamud met with someone he believed to be a loyal member of ISIS to attempt to purchase an AK-47 rifle, knowing it would be used in a felony or federal crime of terrorism. Mohamud planned to use the gun he bought in a high-traffic public area just a few weeks’ time in support of a designated foreign terrorist organization.”

FBI Director Kash Patel underscored the stakes. The suspect obtained a weapon he hoped to use in a mass casualty attack in support of ISIS, but agents arrested him and halted the plans. President Trump also praised the disruption that prevented a potential mass-casualty terrorist attack.

The same pattern of proactive federal work appears in cases such as when Texas DPS and the FBI stopped a planned attack on the state Capitol in Austin.

Mohamud’s own words left little doubt about motive or scale. He messaged about wanting an assault rifle rather than a bomb because a bomb seemed too complicated. He spoke of killing 30 to 60 people and carrying 260 rounds. He chose the Mall of America because he believed it was Jewish-owned and wanted the bloodshed to keep visitors away.

The New York Post published excerpts from those exchanges, which also referenced the Bondi Beach attack on Jews in Australia.

“because its owned by jewish [sic] so if i kill even 30 people noone would go there anymore. I want to harm the jew just like the brothers in australia bondi beach harmed the jews.”

Another message laid out the method: “I’ll just go grab assault rifle bomb is too complicated kill maybe 30-60 people insha Allah and have 260 ammo.”

He had been exchanging messages with an FBI informant over TikTok and Signal for nearly two years. Those conversations covered attacks on non-Muslims and interest in joining ISIS. Agents watched as the talk turned into concrete steps, including the weapons purchase.

U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen addressed the case directly. He stressed that agents detected the threat early and stopped it short of any bloodshed.

Breitbart carried Rosen’s assessment of the defendant and the operation’s result.

“This was a radicalized young man who needed to be watched. [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.”

Mohamud is an American-born citizen and the son of naturalized Somali nationals. The investigation shows how online radicalization can turn a U.S. teenager into someone ready to buy a rifle for a jihadist mass shooting at a major American shopping center.

Federal sting tactics remain a core tool against such threats, just as they did when a Virginia Democratic operative was sentenced to 10 years after an FBI child sex abuse sting.

The Mall of America plot never reached the parking lot. No shoppers were harmed. No celebration was canceled. The rifle stayed in federal hands. That outcome came from sustained monitoring that began in late 2024 and continued through the undercover buy in September.

Prosecutors have not released every charging document or the full case number in initial announcements. Open questions remain about any additional associates and the precise path of the planned route inside the mall. What is clear is the sequence: long-term surveillance, recorded pledges, a weapons deal, and a hard stop before October 24.

Other recent FBI actions against national-security targets, such as the arrest of an Irvine realtor charged with spying on Taiwan’s president’s son for Beijing, show the bureau’s continued focus on both foreign-directed and homegrown threats.

The case lands at a moment when public spaces and Jewish communities remain high-value targets for ISIS-inspired actors. Mohamud’s messages mixed classic jihadist language with a specific desire to copy violence against Jews overseas. Agents treated the talk as operational, not empty boasting, and moved when he put money on the table for a working rifle.

Lawful residents and families who fill the Mall of America on ordinary weekends never had to face the consequences of that plan. The FBI’s yearslong effort, the undercover purchase, and the timely arrest kept the body count at zero. That is the measurable result of treating radicalization and explicit murder plots as the urgent threats they are.

When federal agents stay on the trail from the first online signal to the final cash-for-gun handoff, Americans get to keep shopping, gathering, and living without becoming the next set of casualties.