Minnesota 18-Year-Old Accused of Plotting Mall of America Attack, Arrested After Buying Rifle in FBI Sting

Federal prosecutors say an 18-year-old Twin Cities man planned to open fire at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and was arrested after buying an AK-47 rifle from an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of ISIS, according to The Associated Press and the Star Tribune.

Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud was arrested on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in the parking lot of a park in Richfield, Minnesota, after paying $600 for the rifle, four magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint as reported by the AP and the Star Tribune.

He is charged with receiving a firearm and ammunition to commit a federal crime of terrorism, CBS News Minnesota and CNN reported. The allegations have not been proven in court.

What prosecutors say he planned

According to the complaint, Mohamud told an FBI informant he wanted to carry out an attack at the mall during the Hmong Arts Celebration on Oct. 24, 2026, because “it will be a lot of people,” CBS News Minnesota and KSTP reported.

He also discussed an attack at the Valleyfair amusement park in Shakopee, the complaint says, according to CBS News Minnesota and the Star Tribune. Prosecutors say he wrote that he wanted to target the mall because it is “owned by Jewish,” the two outlets reported.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said investigators stopped the threat before the defendant “carried out his intention to kill, in his words, maybe 30 to 60 people,” according to the AP and CBS News Minnesota.

The complaint also says Mohamud sent the informant a video in which he pledged allegiance to ISIS, CBS News Minnesota and the Star Tribune reported.

A nearly two-year investigation

The FBI’s investigation began in December 2024, when a confidential source started exchanging messages with Mohamud on social media and encrypted apps, according to CBS News Minnesota and CNN.

In those messages, prosecutors say, he talked about traveling to Somalia to join a terrorist group, then turned to planning an attack in Minnesota when he did not have the money to travel, the Star Tribune and KSTP reported.

FBI agents tried to speak with his parents in May 2025 about his radicalization but were turned away, according to CBS News Minnesota and the Star Tribune. Rosen urged parents who receive such a warning from federal agents to take it seriously, CBS News Minnesota and CNN reported.

“Mohamud allegedly sought martyrdom in carrying out his plans to murder innocent civilians,” said Christopher Dotson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office, according to the Star Tribune and CBS News Minnesota.

Where the case stands

Mohamud was in custody as of Oct. 7, 2026, according to KSTP and the Star Tribune.

Max Crime has previously covered another case linked to an alleged ISIS plot.