The FBI announced it disrupted a "potential terrorist attack" planned at a grocery store on New Year's Eve in North Carolina.
The suspect, 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant of Mint Hill, North Carolina, was "directly inspired" by the Islamic State group, the FBI said. He was arrested on Dec. 31 and is charged with attempting to provide material support for a foreign terrorist organization, United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson said at a news conference.
Sturdivant allegedly planned to carry out the attack at a Mint Hill grocery store and fast food restaurant, Ferguson said.
"It was a very well-planned, thoughtful attack," Ferguson said. “He was preparing for Jihad and innocent people were going to die, and we are very, very fortunate they did not.”
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