MINNEAPOLIS — The rifle that Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud carried out of a car in a Richfield parking lot on Tuesday could not fire. The FBI had made sure of that before an undercover employee sold it to him. Minutes later, agents arrested the 18-year-old, who prosecutors say planned a mass shooting at the Mall of America later this month.
Mohamud, of Richfield, Minnesota, was charged by complaint with one count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition in order to commit a federal crime of terrorism, the Justice Department said. He made his first court appearance on Wednesday and was ordered held until a detention hearing on October 19. He has been appointed a federal defender.
According to the complaint, Mohamud began exchanging hundreds of messages with a confidential FBI source in December 2024. At first he talked about travelling to Somalia or the Middle East to fight for al-Shabaab or the Islamic State. When he said he could not afford the trip, prosecutors allege, he turned to an attack at home.
In July, the complaint says, he wrote that he wanted to attack the Mall of America because he believed it was owned by Jews, and that he wanted to kill 30 to 60 people. He later picked October 24, the date of a Hmong Arts Celebration at the mall, because it would draw a large crowd, investigators said. He also pledged allegiance to ISIS in a selfie-style video, according to court filings.
On October 6, he paid about $600 in cash for an AK-47 rifle, four 30-round magazines and around 200 rounds of ammunition. The FBI rendered the rifle inert before the sale. During the meeting, Mohamud told the undercover employee again that he planned to shoot people at the mall, prosecutors said. ABC News reported that he also cited anger over the treatment of Muslims after a May attack on an Islamic Center in San Diego.
“As alleged in the criminal complaint, Mohamud took substantial steps to plot to murder innocent people in the name of ISIS,” said Daniel Rosen, the US attorney for Minnesota. Officials said Mohamud, who was born in the US to Somali parents, acted alone.
Cases built on informants and undercover sales draw recurring questions about how far a suspect would have gone without government help. The investigation ran nearly two years, and the weapon he bought came from the FBI itself. Those questions are likely to surface in court. A similar sting led to the arrest of an Albany woman in an alleged ISIS plot against the New York State Capitol in August.
The complaint names only one defendant, and nothing in it accuses his family or community. A charge is an accusation, and Mohamud is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The case is being prosecuted by the US Department of Justice National Security Division and the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.
