Luqmaan Khan, 25, a student at the University of Delaware, was arrested after police found four loaded 27-round rounds of ammunition and written attack plans in his vehicle that mentioned “martyrdom” and identified a police officer as a potential target, authorities said, according to PTI. The mass shooting incident was foiled after officers reportedly saw him in his pickup truck in a park before midnight on November 24 and became suspicious of his behavior and decided to search the vehicle.
A subsequent search of Khan’s home revealed a scoped rifle, body armor and a .357 pistol modified with an illegal machine gun conversion device called a “switch,” according to the complaint.
Khan has remained in federal custody since his Nov. 24 arrest in Canby Park West, Wilmington, when New Castle County police pulled him over for illegal parking. Authorities said he appeared nervous and uncooperative during the encounter. After his arrest, officers later searched his vehicle and found a gun, a firearm enhancement kit and a laptop.
What did the laptop reveal?
The notebook contained combat tactics for various weapons and a drawing of the University of Delaware Police Department building, according to police. He described the attack on his former school’s police department, including a drawn map of the headquarters marked with intended entry and exit routes.
“Patrol officers stop a potential threat targeting the University of Delaware Police Department,” New Castle County police said on X.
According to ABC 6, it contained repeated phrases such as “kill them all – martyrdom,” outlined methods to avoid capture after the intended shooting, and stated how several other weapons would be used, descriptions that police characterized as “premeditated attack plans” and clear “warfare techniques.”
Authorities mentioned that Khan told them that becoming a martyr was “one of the greatest things you can do.” The exact motive behind the alleged attack is still unclear, but Khan reportedly told police after his arrest that becoming a martyr was “one of the greatest things you can do”.
Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul of the Baltimore office praised the police, saying, “I commend the dedicated officers of the New Castle County Police Department whose exceptional actions led to Khan’s arrest before anyone was injured.”
Khan, a Wilmington resident with no prior arrests, is scheduled for a Dec. 11 detention hearing, according to the complaint. Eleni Kousoulis, the federal public defender representing Khan in Delaware, did not immediately return a message left at her office Wednesday.
