Ahmed immigrated to the United States as a child, resided in Minneapolis, Minnesota and entered the Roosevelt High School in September 1996.
[1] In 2004, Ahmed began associating with a new group of friends perceived as having been religious; he was "radicalized in his hometown in Minnesota" according to Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
[1] He was one of twenty Somali-American men who departed the Minneapolis area for Somalia, a trend which has been the focus of one of the larger domestic terrorism investigations since September 11, 2001.
[1] Then, on October 29, 2008, — or the 28th[2] — he drove a car loaded with explosives into a government compound in Puntland in the northern region of the country, and blew himself up.
[1] Mother Jones magazine pointed out normal elements of his American upbringing, including being a fan of rap artist Ice Cube, and enjoying basketball.