Federal authorities have arrested a man accused of planning to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass shooting at the Mall of America in Minnesota, according to newly unsealed court records.
Sheikhdoon Mohamud was taken into custody Tuesday after allegedly purchasing an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition from a confidential source for the FBI that prosecutors say he planned to use to attack a festival taking place at the Mall of America.
Mohamud has been under investigation by the FBI since December 2024 when a confidential source with the FBI began exchanging messages with him about either traveling to Somalia to fight on behalf of al-Shabaab or carrying out a mass casualty attack on U.S. soil, court documents show.
Prosecutors detail scores of communications between Mohamud and the FBI source where he allegedly detailed his hopes of martyrdom, including one where he discussed just getting a “gun here and just start killing a bunch of white ppl.”
By December 2025, Mohamud expressed interest in providing support to ISIS and the two regularly continued communicating as Mohamud shifted away from plans to travel overseas and instead indicated he was more intent on carrying out an attack in the U.S, the court documents allege. Throughout their communications, Mohamud allegedly suggested he had inspiration in his planned attacks from both the New Orleans New Years Eve attacker and Omar Mateen, the Pulse Nightclub shooter.
Prosecutors said Mohamud told the source he wanted to attack the Mall of America “because its owned by jewish” people, adding, “so if I kill even 30 people noone would go there anymore.”
By August, Mohamud allegedly began planning a meetup with the source to purchase an AK-47 and ammunition, and Mohamud sent the following pictures of himself so the source could recognize him, prosecutors said.
Mohamud later allegedly settled on a meetup of Oct. 6 with the source to purchase the weapons and suggested he would plan to carry an attack on Oct. 24 targeting the Hmong Arts Celebration at the Mall of America, according to court documents.
During their meetup the undercover agent handed Mohamud a large duffel bag containing an AK-47 rifle and four magazines as well as a container with 200 rounds of ammunition, according to prosecutors.
The agent told Mohamud he was a member of ISIS and when he asked him about his attack plans, Mohamud again allegedly expressed intent to carry out a shooting at a festival at the Mall, and said part of his motivation was that he believed it was owned by Jews and that he was “angry at the bad treatment of Muslims” in the wake of the May attack on an Islamic Center in San Diego.
Upon exiting the vehicle, Mohamud was taken into custody at gunpoint by FBI agents, the affidavit says.
“The American people and the citizens of Minnesota should know from yesterday’s arrest — which was the culmination of an outstanding law enforcement and intelligence operation — that federal law enforcement is standing up to their calling to protect us,” U.S. attorney for Minnesota Dan Rosen said Wednesday. “Here, because of their vigilance and diligence, they were able to detect the threat and disrupt it before the defendant carried out his intention to kill, in his words, ‘maybe 30 to 60 people,’ as we allege in far greater detail in the complaint.”
Rosen and FBI special agent Christopher Dodson detailed the extensive communications between Mohamud and an FBI confidential source that they said showed he was “100% committed” to carrying out an attack.
“The messages this defendant allegedly sent to others were chilling,” Dodson said. “They show the idolization of ideologically motivated violence, a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life, a blind hatred of people of other faiths, and a cold commitment to carrying out his vision of violence in our community.”
Mohamud is believed to be an American citizen born in the United States, Rosen told reporters, though in the criminal complaint he refers to Somalia as the homeland of his parents.
Rosen noted that in 2025 after being alerted to his sharing of extremist material online, the FBI actually went to Mohamud’s house to attempt to speak to his parents but were rebuffed.
“I just would say to parents all over Minnesota — for that matter, all over America: If you get the indication, especially if you hear from federal law enforcement that your son or daughter is being radicalized to the point where federal law law enforcement wants to come and give you that warning, those are warnings that ought to be heeded,” Rosen said.
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