Federal prosecutors say an 18-year-old Minnesota man was arrested after plotting a mass shooting at the Mall of America in support of ISIS, allegedly intending to open fire on a Hmong community festival at the Bloomington shopping complex later this month.

Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, of Richfield, was taken into custody Tuesday in a Richfield park parking lot moments after taking possession of what he believed was a working AK-47-style rifle and roughly 200 rounds of ammunition from an undercover FBI employee, according to a criminal complaint cited in a Justice Department announcement. He paid about $600 cash for the weapon, which the FBI had rendered inoperable. He appeared in federal court in St. Paul on Wednesday and was charged with knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition to commit a federal crime of terrorism.

A Plot Two Years in the Making

According to the complaint, an FBI confidential source began exchanging messages with Mohamud in December 2024. He initially told the source he wanted to travel to Somalia to join al-Shabab, but by this past summer allegedly said he lacked the money to go and would instead carry out an attack at home for ISIS. Prosecutors say he recorded a video pledging allegiance to the group and told the source he intended to kill 30 to 60 people at the mall, which he falsely claimed was Jewish-owned.

Investigators say Mohamud settled on Oct. 24 — the date of a Hmong Arts Celebration scheduled at the mall — after the source asked whether a large crowd would be gathered that day. Hmong Minnesotans make up the state's largest Asian ethnic community. When asked if he was serious, Mohamud allegedly replied, "yes i am 100% sure," according to NBC News's review of the complaint. Agents had previously visited his home in May 2025, but his parents did not cooperate with the inquiry, prosecutors said.

"This individual allegedly obtained a weapon he hoped to use in a mass casualty attack in support of ISIS."

FBI Director Kash Patel issued that statement following the arrest. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen of the District of Minnesota told reporters agents were able to "detect a threat and disrupt it" before Mohamud could act, calling him "a radicalized young man who needed to be watched" and urging parents contacted by federal agents about possible radicalization to take the warnings seriously.

Mall of America, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in the country, drawing roughly 40 million visitors a year, said in a statement reported by CBS News Minnesota that "the safety and security of everyone who visits and works at Mall of America has always been our highest priority." The case was investigated jointly by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Bloomington Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation.

Mohamud, who told the judge he has no job, car, house or savings, is being represented by a federal public defender. He remains in custody as the case proceeds; no trial date has been set. The criminal complaint contains allegations only, and Mohamud is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.