Highlights
– Authorities use Southland Chicago malls for joint terrorism training exercises
– Series of shootings and plots targeting malls in last two years highlight threat
– Large year-round crowds make malls a likely soft target for future shootings and terrorist plots
In May 2008 Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) units of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted joint terrorism training exercises with local police at Orland Park shopping mall in the greater Chicago area and surrounding malls in Southland Chicago. The exercises involved more than 250 FBI agents from Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit as they played officers equipped with assault rifles and flash-bang grenades, shoppers, and terrorists. While the details of the exercises are closed to the public, reported indicate the exercises involved a terrorist assault with hazardous materials and a hostage negotiation. Only FBI officials and police commanders were aware of how the exercise would play out, allowing for a beneficial interaction between local and federal authorities.
The terrorist threat to United States (US) shopping malls was reinforced in November 2007 when the FBI issued an intelligence report warning that al-Qaeda may have been plotting to attack shopping malls in Chicago and Los Angeles (Source). While this information was deemed unverified as it was acquired through a third party informant, the overall accessibility and guaranteed large crowds at shopping malls will likely make them a popular soft target for future domestic shootings and terrorist attacks.
To harden shopping malls around the US, additional trained security would likely increase the chances of a failed attack and therefore cause terrorists to pass on targets with tightened security. Furthermore, similar terrorist simulation exercises will be an important practice to uphold to enhance emergency response for future attempted attacks.
Previous Shootings and Terrorist Plots in the US
The following list includes recent shootings and terrorist plots involving US malls:
• December 5, 2007: 19 year old Robert Hawkins walked into a department store at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, and fired 30 rounds with an AK-47 that killed eight people and wounded four others. Hawkins later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head (Source).
• April 29, 2007: At one of Kansas City’s busiest malls, Ward Parkway Center, 51 year old David Logsdon shot two people and wounded several others in the mall parking lot before being killed by police at a Target department store (Source).
• February 12, 2007: At Trolley Square Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah 18 year old Sulejman Talović killed five people and wounded four others before being shot and killed by an off duty police officer (Previous Report).
• December 6, 2006: A resident of Genoa, Illinois, Derrick Shareef, was arrested and plead guilty to attempting to acquire weapons to perpetrate an attack on Cherry Vale mall in Rockford, Illinois. Shareef befriended an FBI informant and was arrested after he acquired a non-functioning gun and four non-functioning grenades (Source).
• A Somali immigrant, Nuradin Abdi, was arrested in 2004 for conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda and plotting to bomb an unspecified Ohio shopping mall. Abdi had mentioned to two other suspected terrorists in Columbus in 2002, that the two, “could attack the mall with a bomb.” (Source).
Terrorist Simulations Raise Situational Awareness
The terrorist assault simulation in Orland Park was one of several taking place in suburban communities in Southland Chicago last week. Continuing this exercise throughout the country would help raise situational awareness on a wider scale and familiarize local law enforcement with possible terrorist attack scenarios. Due to guaranteed large public crowds year round, shopping malls will continue to represent a soft target for shooters and potential terrorist plots in the long-term.
