Terrorism Charges For 17-Year-Old, Mall Shooting Plot: Report

PLANO, TX — A 17-year-old was arrested for soliciting others to join his mass shooting spree at a mall, according to reports. Matin Azizi-Yarand was taken in on terrorism charges after planning the ISIS-inspired attack, according to an affidavit.

The affidavit claims Azizi-Yarand, a Plano West High School student, spoke online with a confidential informant, saying he wanted to "conduct a terrorist attack within the United States." His plot to attack Frisco's Stonebriar Mall was foiled by FBI agents.

Azizi-Yarand was arrested without incident at the high school just before noon on Tuesday, May 1. Azizi-Yarand faces charges for the criminal solicitation of capital murder and making a terroristic threat.

In discussing his plans with a confidential FBI source, he talked about the number of people he could kill by simply firing into the mall crowd and possibly setting stores on fire, according to the affidavit.

Azizi-Yarand wanted to wait until he was 18 in May to conduct the attack, the affidavit said, so he could buy a rifle himself. He also said he had been reading ISIS magazine guides "for performing operations and making bombs."

His goal wasn't necessarily to kill as many as possible, the affidavit says. "It is not about how many Kill [sic] but how much money you will make these countries spend in security just for a simple attack."

Amid frequent ISIS-inspired attacks in Europe, the affidavit claims Azizi-Yarand's intentions were clear: "yes I want to put America in the state that Europe is in which is having to have soldiers deployed to the streets."

On the solicitation charge, the affidavit claims Azizi-Yarand sent a bomb-making and stabbing training video to the confidential informant. "Skip about halfway if you just want to see the bomb making // first half is knife attacks," he said, according to the affidavit.

He also sent a two-page document to the informant originally written by Eric Harris, one of the Columbine shooters, the affidavit claims. It included instructions on building pipe bombs.

Azizi-Yarand initially thought about carrying out the mass shooting at a school before changing his plans, the affidavit said.

“School is a perfect place for an attack,” he said according to the affidavit. “Even a blind man could take 10 easily. Just fire where you hear screams."

See clips of the affidavit by clicking on the tweet below.