FBI Says It Thwarted Planned Mall of America Attack by 18-Year-Old Agency Had Supplied With a Rifle
Authorities say an 18-year-old was arrested after paying an undercover FBI employee for an AK-47 he allegedly planned to use in a shooting at the Mall of America, The Guardian reports.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.
FBI officials say they stopped a planned shooting attack at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, with the arrest of an 18-year-old who had been under investigation by the bureau for nearly two years, according to The Guardian.
The suspect, identified as Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, was arrested in a public park on Tuesday and faces one count of obtaining a firearm to carry out an act of terrorism, authorities announced Wednesday, the report said. According to the criminal complaint cited by The Guardian, Mohamud paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee who was posing as a member of the Islamic State group, in exchange for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition.
The arrest is the latest in a series of cases in which the FBI has used undercover employees or informants posing as extremist contacts to identify and intercept people investigators believe are planning attacks, before they are able to obtain real, functioning weapons through other channels. Such sting operations typically culminate, as in this case, with the suspect's arrest at the point of a staged weapons handover.
The Guardian's report did not detail what specifically alerted the FBI to Mohamud nearly two years ago, nor whether additional charges beyond the firearms count are expected. Mall of America, one of the largest shopping centers in the United States, has previously been named in other extremist plotting cases over the years, underscoring its profile as a potential target for attacks aimed at large public gatherings.
Further details on the case, including any statement from Mohamud's legal representation, were not available in the source report.
Sources
- FBI says it thwarted terrorist attack in Minnesota by an 18-year-old it supplied with an AK-47 — The Guardian — World
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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