A UC Merced student who went on a violent rampage in November that ended in him stabbing four people before being shot down by authorities is now said to have been inspired by ISIS.
Faisal Mohammad, 18, was apparently motivated by his viewing of terrorist propaganda before he attacked on Nov. 4, CNN reports. Police originally believed that his actions were simply a product of being an angry, upset college student, but have since determined otherwise after discovering that he had recently visited websites for ISIS and other terrorist organizations before the incident.
Though the FBI did find pro-ISIS propaganda, an ISIS flag, and a detailed, hand-written manifesto describing his plan to take students hostage in Mohammad’s backpack, they still believe that this was a solo attack, claiming to have no reason to believe the student had ties to anyone else or was in contact with any terrorists. They believe he “self-radicalized,” meaning no members of ISIS had a direct role in turning him toward extremism.
“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,” a spokesperson for the FBI said.
According to the FBI, it was determined that Mohammad planned the attack a least one week in advance after visiting terrorist websites quite frequently for several weeks.
None of the four victims were killed in the attack.