FBI: Attack on California University Campus was Daesh-Inspired

Local Editor

A college student who attacked four people at a University of California campus in 2015 appears to have been "self-extremist" and was inspired by terrorist propaganda from Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri "ISIS" group], the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Thursday.

On 4 November, Faisal Mohammad, 18, stabbed a fellow student in a University of California, Merced classroom and proceeded to attack three others as he fled on campus before police shot and killed him, according to the FBI's account.

Upon investigation, the bureau found that his laptop contained "pro-Daesh propaganda." Also officials said he "had visited Daesh and other extremist websites in the weeks prior to his attack."

Mohammad, a US-born son of a couple from Pakistan, allegedly began preparing for the assault at least one week in advance, and FBI officials said Thursday that it appeared he was working alone.

At the time of the stabbings, Mohammad was carrying a backpack with a two-page, handwritten plan "detailing his intentions to include taking hostages and killing students and police officers", the FBI division in Sacramento said in a statement.

The FBI added in its statement, "After an extensive investigation of all available evidence, no ties to co-conspirators or foreign terrorist organizations have been found. Every indication is that Mohammad acted on his own; however, it may never be possible to definitively determine why he chose to attack people on the UC Merced campus."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team