FBI says it thwarted an attack on the Mall of America by a teen it supplied with an assault rifle
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The FBI thwarted an attack on the Mall of America by a teenager after agents supplied him with an assault rifle, authorities announced Wednesday.
The 18-year-old had been under investigation for nearly two years, trading messages with a confidential informant, before agents sold him the rifle and ammunition, according to a criminal complaint.
“This was a radicalized young man who needed to be watched,” U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said as he praised the FBI investigation.
Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, was arrested Tuesday in a public park in Ridgefield, several miles northwest of the Mall of America, after he paid $600 to an undercover FBI employee posing as a member of ISIS for an AK-47 and 200 rounds of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint.
In text messages with a confidential FBI source, Mohamud had repeatedly affirmed his intent to carry out an attack to kill non-Muslims, the complaint said. It was not immediately known if the teen had an attorney who might speak on his behalf.
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