The FBI announced on Thursday that it had thwarted an improvised explosive attack and a possible mass shooting that was to take place at a Washington mall.
Federal agents arrested a teenager who is suspected of planning the assault last month, according to a press release.
A teenager, whose name will not be released due to an effort to limit public disclosure of a minor, was arrested May 22 by Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies after his plans to set off an explosive at a shopping mall in Washington and shoot people as they fled the movie theater there were reported to the FBI on May 19, law enforcement leaders said Thursday.
The mall is approximately 50 miles north of Portland off I-5.
“This plot was as serious as it gets,” FBI Portland Special Agent in Charge Doug Olson stated. “We, along with our partners, moved swiftly to interrupt this violent plan and to protect our community.”
The teenager arrested for planning the attack is a Columbia County resident who, according to the FBI, shared nihilistic, violent extremist ideology and the plans in online chats. The suspect was placed under court-authorized surveillance for public safety concerns.
FBI stops Oregon teen’s plot to bomb and shoot shoppers at WA mall https://t.co/1uch4NvEdp
— KIRO 7 (@KIRO7Seattle) June 6, 2025
The Bureau noted that the suspect “demonstrated the intent and means to carry out their plan, which included precise details such as a map of the mall, a route the shooter would follow, a plan to use an improvised explosive device commonly known as a chlorine bomb to incite panic, and then to shoot mall patrons as sthey were exiting the movie theatre before ultimately committing suicide at a pre-determined location in the mall.”
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Investigators found “annotated schematics” and the firearms and explosives the boy planned to use. They seized three handguns, ammunition, four knives, and five digital devices, according to Olson.
The suspect was taken into custody by Columbia County juvenile authorities.
Today, SAC Olson and local partners from Columbia County, Ore., spoke about an interrupted plan to use an improvised explosive device and conduct a mass shooting at the Three Rivers Mall in Kelso, WA. Work such as this is at the core of what we do to protect our communities. pic.twitter.com/shnshMgKDE
— FBI Portland (@FBIPortland) June 5, 2025
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