NC teen charged with plotting mass shooting to support ISIS

A 19-year-old North Carolina man was charged on Monday for planning a “big attack” on behalf of Islamic extremists.

According to federal charges, Justin Sullivan claimed to be a part of the “Islamic State of North America,” whose “doctrine is Guerilla Warfare in and out.”

{mosads}Sullivan allegedly planned to obtain a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle at a gun show this weekend and use it to kill as many as 1,000 Americans on behalf of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

He planned on carrying out “minor assassinations before the big attack for training,” the government alleged in its charges, and he also wanted to send a video to ISIS.

According to the government, an undercover FBI agent made contact with Sullivan earlier this month. At the time, Sullivan called himself “a mujahid” — meaning that he was engaged in jihad — and indicated he converted to Islam after seeing the rise of ISIS.

During the conversations, Sullivan mentioned his plan to buy an assault rifle at a gun show and discussed plans to make silencers to help carry out his attack, the government alleged.

“I’ll kill people this month,” he said, according to the criminal complaint. He later allegedly said he planned to attack a bar or concert and had looked through the online yellow pages for possible attack sites. 

While Sullivan’s ambitions appeared to be great, the federal charges make him appear unhinged. It’s unclear how much he could have accomplished on his own. 

In April, his father called 911 and reported Sullivan was had poured gasoline on some “religious” items in order to burn them.

In the background of that phone call, Sullivan could be heard stating “they” were going to put him “in jail my whole life,” or “They are going to kill me.”

During his conversations with the undercover office this month, Sullivan also allegedly speculated about robbing banks, coating bullets with cyanide and “set[ting] off a gas bomb to finish off the rest … its [sic] easy to make.”

Instead of making his own silencer, Sullivan had the uncover FBI officer mail him one. The FBI built a silencer out of a Maglite flashlight and sent it to Sullivan last week.

He was arrested on Friday. According to the Justice Department, he acknowledged to officials that he had discussed a planned massacre but “didn’t mean it.”

On Monday, he was charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS as well as with transporting and possessing an unregistered silencer.