NEW: Mall Of America Terrorist Revealed As Somali Birthright Citizen

The 18-year-old suspect who has been charged in connection with a planned terrorist attack targeting the Mall Of America in Minnesota has been identified as a U.S.-born teen of Somali descent, who previously attempted to travel overseas and join the Somali terror group al-Shabaab.

Federal authorities arrested Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, 18, on Tuesday, October 6, in a Richfield, Minnesota, park after he took possession of a firearm and ammunition that court documents allege he intended to use in an attack at the Mall of America. He faces one federal count of knowingly receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing or having reason to believe they would be used to commit a felony and a federal crime of terrorism.

The suspected terrorist made an initial appearance the following day in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, where a magistrate ordered him held pending a detention hearing set for October 19.

Mohamud is a U.S. citizen born in the United States in 2008. According to federal sources cited by Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, both of his parents are Somali nationals who first entered the country through New York in 2000 and were later naturalized in 2010 and 2017, respectively.

The manner of their initial entry has not been publicly specified. In court filings he refers to Somalia as his parents’ homeland.

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NEW: I'm told by federal sources that the parents of the 18-year-old man arrested by the FBI for allegedly plotting an ISIS inspired mass shooting at Minnesota’s Mall of America are both Somali nationals who first flew into New York in 2000 and were later naturalized into U.S.… pic.twitter.com/FdkOAtifSq

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 7, 2026

The FBI began investigating him in December 2024 after a confidential source started exchanging messages with him on social media and encrypted applications, including TikTok, Telegram, and Discord.

Those communications, which spanned nearly two years, initially focused on travel to Somalia. Mohamud discussed joining al-Shabaab or the Islamic State, both of which are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government, and stated that he wanted to marry and “fight the enemies of Allah.”

He later recorded and sent a selfie-style video in which he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. By mid-2025 he told the source he lacked sufficient funds for travel and would instead carry out an attack in Minnesota. Messages referenced admiration for other attacks, including the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting and the January 2025 vehicle attack in New Orleans, and included statements that he wanted to be “martyred.”

In May 2025, after indications that Mohamud was sharing extremist material online, FBI agents went to the family residence. His mother said he was not yet home from school and contacted his father, who declined to speak with the agents and stated that he would provide their contact information to an attorney, according to the criminal complaint and statements by U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen.

The Department of Justice has confirmed that the parents refused to speak with investigators at that time.

Court documents state that Mohamud subsequently identified the Mall of America in Bloomington as a target, writing that it was “owned by jewish” and that killing “even 30 people” would deter visitors. He later specified the Hmong Arts Celebration scheduled for October 24, describing it as an event that would draw “a lot of people,” and indicated he hoped to kill 30 to 60 individuals.

On October 6 he met an undercover FBI employee he believed was affiliated with the Islamic State, paid $600 in cash, and received a Norinco AK-47-style rifle (rendered inoperable), four magazines, and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition in a duffel bag. Agents ultimately arrested him at gunpoint immediately after he left the vehicle.

Mohamud has been appointed a federal defender and is being held in custody ahead of the October 19 hearing that will address whether he remains detained until trial.

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