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The FBI has arrested an 18-year-old Minnesota man accused of planning an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at the Mall of America. Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud was arrested Tuesday after purchasing an AK-47-style rifle, four magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition from an undercover FBI employee, according to a federal affidavit unsealed Wednesday.
The investigation into Mohamud began in December 2024, after he began corresponding online with a confidential source for the FBI, according to the court documents. At first, Mohamud spoke of traveling to Somalia to fight for al-Shabaab or ISIS, but the documents say he eventually gave up on that plan when he was unable to come up with the money to travel. He then turned his attention to a domestic attack, the documents said. By December of 2025, ABC News reported that Mohamud had become interested in supporting ISIS, and that he had cited the New Year’s Eve shooting in New Orleans and the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando as examples of what he wanted to do.
In September, Mohamud told the source that he “can’t wait until I kill kuffar man. October 24 is the day insha Allah.” The Hmong Arts Celebration was scheduled to take place at the Mall of America on October 24. There would be “a lot of people” attending, Mohamud said to the source. U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen said Mohamud wanted to kill, in his own words, “maybe 30 to 60 people.”
The affidavit says that during the purchase on October 6, Mohamud told the undercover FBI agent that he was a member of ISIS. He was arrested at gunpoint as he got out of the vehicle with the duffel bag. He is charged with knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing they would be used in a felony and a federal crime of terrorism.
FBI agents went to his home in Minnesota in 2025 after radical material was discovered online, but got no comment from his parents, Rosen said. The teen is a U.S. citizen, born in the U.S., and his parents are naturalized citizens from Somalia, Fox News’ federal law enforcement sources reported.
FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dotson called the messages “chilling.” FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency “put a stop to his plans.” “The FBI did a great job,” President Trump told reporters.
The defendant had his initial appearance in federal court Wednesday and was temporarily detained. The defendant’s preliminary and detention hearing is set for Monday, October 19. Mall of America said it maintains multiple layers of security.
