A Pakistani immigrant has been arrested in the United States for allegedly planning a mass shooting on the school's campus. The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Luqmaan Khan, was taken into custody after a cache of guns, ammunition, body armour, and a manifesto explaining plans to "kill all" and achieve "martyrdom" were recovered from his possession, according to the US Department of Justice (DoJ).
Khan, a student at the University of Delaware, was arrested on November 24 after cops found him in his pickup truck in a park after hours and decided to search the vehicle.
During their searches, officers found a .357 calibre Glock handgun loaded with 27 rounds inserted into a microplastic conversion firearm brace kit in the vehicle. They also found three more loaded 27-round magazines (one in the storage slot of the conversion kit, which converted it into a semi-automatic rifle), a loaded Glock 9mm magazine, an armoured ballistic plate, and a marble composition notebook, the DoJ release said.
In the handwritten notebook, Khan discussed additional weapons and firearms, how they could be used in an attack, and how law enforcement detection could be avoided once an attack was carried out. The notebook also referenced a member of the University of Delaware's Police Department by name. It included a layout of a building with entry and exit points under which the words "UD Police Station" were printed.
Phrases like "kill all" and "martyrdom" were mentioned throughout the manifesto, ABC 6 reported. Police said the content of the notebook was all "premeditated assault plans" and obvious "warfare techniques".
The full motivation behind the alleged attack remains unclear, but according to a New York Post report, Khan told police after his arrest that becoming a martyr was "one of the greatest things you can do."
Khan was reportedly born in Pakistan but has lived in the US since he was a "youth" and is an American citizen, according to the New York Post report.
After the arrest, the FBI raided his Wilmington home and recovered an AR-style rifle equipped with a red-dot scope, along with a second Glock pistol – this one equipped with an illegal device that converted it to a fully automatic machine gun capable of shooting 1,200 rounds per minute.
Eleven more extended magazines were found, along with deadly hollow-point bullets and a bulletproof vest. None of the weapons found in Khan's possession were registered.
He was charged with illegally possessing a machine gun on November 26, two days after his arrest. He remains behind bars as the FBI investigates the case further.
Source: NDTV