Agent: Tucson terror suspect said he would have shot children - KVOA | KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona

TUCSON – A teen suspected of planning terrorist attacks was targeting the Tucson Jewish Community Center, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mahin Khan, 18, was arrested on July 1. He is in the Maricopa County Jail. His attorneys are trying to allow him to post bond. A Special Agent from the Joint Terrorism Task Force testified at a bail hearing Tuesday.

“When the undercover employee asked about what he would do if there were children at the targets, Mr. Khan said he would shoot them,” the agent testified.

The agent said undercover employees communicated with Khan online and provided him a prepaid cell phone. He said Khan was trying to get rifles, a handgun and pressure cooker bombs.

“Mr. Khan referenced, at that time recent, November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris and said that he wanted to kill 200 to 300 people in a similar fashion,” the agent said.

Khan also wanted to target a Tucson Air Force recruiting center and a Motor Vehicle Division office in Mesa.

“We actually asked Mr. Khan why he chose the MVD office in Mesa and not the one in Tucson, and he lives in Tucson,” the agent said. “And he explained that the one in Tucson happens to have a sheriff's office directly next-door, and he didn't want to get killed before carrying out his plan.”

The agent said Khan did not back down even after his arrest.

“In his written statement Mr. Khan addressed the Islamic community at large and stated that it was the obligation and duty, to quote him, to bring terror in their back yards,” the agent said. “He said it was time to rise and slaughter the kufar [sic] meaning the unbelievers or non-Muslims. He described himself as a failed jihadist and expressed that he hoped that other jihadists would learn from his mistakes. And he concluded his letter by pledging allegiance to the leader of ISIS.”

The hearing will continue Wednesday.

Khan’s parents were in court and declined to comment to the media.