USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
FBI Arrests Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud After Undercover Sting At Mall of America
18-year-old Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud arrested after undercover FBI sting at Mall of America. FBI monitored him for nearly two years and supplied him with an AK-47 and ammunition.
FBI sting at Mall of America
Federal prosecutors said FBI agents thwarted a terror attack by an 18-year-old on the Mall of America after monitoring him for nearly two years and ultimately supplying him with an AK-47 he planned to use.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said, “This was a radicalized young man who needed to be watched,” as agents sold the gun and ammunition on Tuesday and arrested Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud on the spot in Richfield, several miles northwest of the mall.
The criminal complaint said Mohamud repeatedly affirmed in chat messages that he intended to attack and kill non-Muslims at the mall on Oct. 24, the date of a scheduled arts celebration by the Hmong community.
Mohamud was arrested Tuesday in a public park in Richfield after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of the Islamic State group for the rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition, authorities said.
Rosen told the court that agents “were able to detect a threat, and disrupt it, before the defendant carried out his intention to kill, in his words, maybe 30 to 60 people.”
Court filings and prosecutors’ claims
Federal prosecutors said Mohamud was arrested at gunpoint Tuesday in Richfield, Minnesota, during an arranged meeting to buy an assault rifle, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Wednesday. FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dotson said, “The messages this defendant allegedly sent to others were chilling,” and he described them as documenting “a cold commitment to carrying out his vision of violence in our community.” Rosen said the FBI contacted Mohamud’s parents in May 2025, but “those attempts were rebuffed by the parents,” and he urged parents to heed warnings from federal law enforcement.
The complaint said a “confidential human source” exchanged “hundreds of bi-directional messages through multiple social media and encrypted messaging applications” with Mohamud from December 2024 until Tuesday. Dotson said Mohamud allegedly sought martyrdom, adding, “Mohamud allegedly sought martyrdom in carrying out his plans to murder innocent civilians.”
What comes next for the case
Federal prosecutors said Mohamud was charged with planning a mass casualty attack in support of ISIS later this month, and they said he wanted to kill as many as 60 people.
CNN reported that court records unsealed Wednesday described Mohamud as knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition, including a Norinco AK-47 assault rifle and approximately 200 live rounds of ammunition, to commit a felony and a federal crime of terrorism.
Rosen said federal agents’ attempts to speak with Mohamud’s parents about his radicalization in 2025 were rebuffed, and he repeated his message to parents across Minnesota and “all over America.”
Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul said Mohamud was federally charged with one count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing or having reason to believe they would be used in a felony or federal crime of terrorism.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Mohamud was arrested after he purchased an AK-47, and the case moved forward with his initial appearance in federal court in St. Paul where he appeared in a yellow jail uniform.