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New Documents Shed Light on Plano Student's Islamic-State Inspired Plans: Police

Less than two weeks before he was arrested for planning an alleged Islamic State-inspired mass shooting at a Frisco shopping mall, a 17-year-old Plano West High School student referred to his classmates as “sitting ducks,” according to new documents released on Thursday.

On April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting and the same day that students from schools all across the country walked out of class to protest gun violence, Matin Azizi-Yarand “took various photographs of other students at the school and sent them to [an undercover FBI employee], describing them as ‘sitting ducks’ when discussing the possibility of an attack at the school,” according to a search warrant affidavit.

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NBC 5 News
Matin Azizi-Yarand, 17, faces life in prison if convicted of an Islamic State-inspired plot to carry out a mass shooting at Stonebriar Centre mall in Frisco.

The documents detail that Azizi-Yarand, who was arrested on Tuesday and charged with making a terroristic threat and criminal solicitation of capital murder of a Texas peace officer, communicated several times over a period of five months with three people who he believed were his accomplices, but were instead two confidential informants and an undercover FBI employee.

During that time, investigators allege that the teenage suspect provided his accomplices with more than $1,400 so they could buy weapons and supplies.

A 17-year-old Plano student was arrested in relation to an Islamic State-inspired plot to carry out a mass shooting at Stonebriar Centre mall in Frisco, officials said. Matin Azizi-Yarand was arrested on criminal solicitation of capital murder and making a terroristic threat, officials announced Wednesday.

According to the affidavit, Azizi-Yarand first sought information related to the Islamic State online in late 2017, and soon after made contact with a confidential informant using an unnamed messaging app.

Members of the North Texas Muslim community spoke out on Wednesday following the planned mass shooting by a teenager in the name of Islam. The speakers urged that they condemn daily terrorist attacks against innocent civilians and ask for understanding that Islam is innocent of any sick individual(s) who purports to act out violent acts of hate in its name.

The suspect ultimately settled on an attack at the Stonebriar Centre, a Frisco shopping mall, and had gone so far as to surveil the security at the mall, including uniformed police officers who patrol the building.

Azizi-Yarand stated that he did not believe a police officer would “try and take us on,” and noted that during the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, a member of law enforcement “ran outside…a lot of people are mad at him.”

Azizi-Yarand Search Warrant

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