Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud paid $600 for a Norinco Mac-90 Sporter rifle — an AK-style weapon — and approximately 200 rounds of 7.62x39 ammunition on October 6. He loaded four magazines. He told an undercover FBI employee his plan for the Mall of America's Hmong Arts Celebration, scheduled for October 24, was simple.
"I just walk in and shoot."
The FBI arrested the 18-year-old in Richfield, Minnesota, moments after he left a vehicle with the weapon. He is now in Sherburne County Jail facing one federal count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition with the intent to use them in a felony and federal crime of terrorism.
Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen announced the charges on October 7. The criminal complaint, reported by 100 Percent Fed Up and Newsmax, reveals that Mohamud had been communicating with a confidential FBI source since December 2024 — when he was 16 years old. Over nearly two years, across social media and encrypted messaging platforms, Mohamud allegedly discussed pledging allegiance to ISIS, joining al-Shabaab in Somalia, and carrying out an attack on American soil.
The Mall of America wasn't his only consideration. According to the complaint, Mohamud also evaluated Valleyfair amusement park as a potential target. By July 2026, the Mall of America emerged as his preferred location. By September, he had narrowed his plan to a specific event — the Hmong Arts Celebration — selecting it because he expected a large crowd. His alleged intended death toll: 30 to 60 people.
He cited the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando as inspiration. He identified the mall's Jewish ownership as part of his targeting rationale. He stated his intent to kill non-Muslims and Asian attendees at the celebration.
The FBI had been aware of Mohamud before he turned 18. In May 2025, agents attempted to contact his family. His father declined to share information and directed them to an attorney. The investigation continued.
FBI Director Kash Patel did not mince the stakes. "An ISIS-inspired terrorist allegedly wanted to slaughter 30–60 innocent Americans at the Mall of America," Patel stated. "He got an AK-style rifle and 200 rounds. He also got the FBI. ARRESTED before he could hurt a single American."
Credit where it's earned: the FBI ran a textbook operation here. The undercover purchase was controlled — the rifle had been rendered inoperable before the exchange — and Mohamud was taken into custody the moment the transaction was complete. No civilians were ever in danger from the weapon itself. The surveillance, the source management, the timing of the arrest — this is what the bureau looks like when it's doing counterterrorism instead of raiding political opponents' homes.
What the complaint doesn't address, and what no one in Washington seems eager to discuss, is how an ISIS sympathizer who began radicalizing at 16 on American soil fits into the broader conversation about domestic security priorities. Mohamud wasn't a foreign operative who slipped through a border checkpoint. He was here. He was radicalized here. He had two years of documented communications about mass murder, and the system caught him — this time — because an FBI source happened to be in the right encrypted channel at the right moment in December 2024.
The Hmong Arts Celebration at the Mall of America is still scheduled for October 24. Families will attend. The event will go on.
Mohamud is 18. He had a rifle, four magazines, 200 rounds, and a plan. The FBI had two years of messages.