A 27-year-old Sudbury man was put behind bars early Wednesday morning on charges of conspiring to launch terrorist attacks on shopping malls. Tarek Mehanna was arrested by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) division, who obtained a warrant for his arrest and the search and seizure of his laptop computer.

Authorities say that Mehanna, an Islamic fundamentalist, had been plotting to launch terrorist attacks on civilians in shopping malls with automatic weapons. He allegedly planned to “randomly shoot” people in malls with fellow co-conspirators, including assaults from multiple entrances, and plans to attack emergency responders.

Wayland community members found the presence of Mehanna alarming, but most say they weren’t surprised. “Wouldn’t you want to go somewhere where you weren’t suspected?” said math teacher Kathleen Thompson.  “Wayland is a nice small town. I think people often think terrorists would be in a city, but they probably want to go somewhere where no one would suspect them.”

According to prosecutors, Mehanna and his associates chose shopping malls because they viewed the locations as civilian gathering places for American taxpayers and nonbelievers. The plans were never acted upon because Mehanna and his men weren’t able to obtain the automatic weapons.

The FBI agents described Mehanna as living a quiet suburban life in the suburbs in one of Sudbury’s many cul-de-sacs. “It’s surprising he was so close, but they’re out there, and there was bound to be one near us,” said junior Ryan Meiselman. “I’m sure I’ll be more aware, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way. I don’t think there’ll be one in Wayland anytime soon.”

Mehanna had previously been suspected of terrorist activity, and had a number of documented conversations with the FBI about his travels to the Middle East. In 2004 the FBI says Mehanna traveled to Yemen in search of terrorist training camps to learn how to carry out Jihad. Mehanna told U.S. customs officials that his trip was to find religious schools.

In 2006, JTTF physically searched Mehanna’s bedroom at the Sudbury home, and made a copy of his laptop’s hard drive. On it they reportedly found traces of online activity and communication about how to best participate and engage in international terrorism and jihad.

The data also revealed that Mehanna translated a number of Al Qaeda propaganda documents, including one entitled “39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad.” Mehanna promoted the document for wider distribution over the Internet. Mehanna wrote, “I hope the book makes an impact.”

It’s unclear whether the FBI has enough evidence to convict Mehanna of the planned mall attacks, or whether the data still on his computer might be enough. It’s also possible further charges will follow for his cyber-aid to al-Qaeda and others planning jihad elsewhere in the world.

“I don’t think it matters that we’re in Wayland, I think we’re living in a very different world right now, and I think everywhere is susceptible to terrorism,” said Ms. Thompson.

Recent online activity pointed to Mehanna trying to leave the United States for extended residence in Saudi Arabia. Mehanna was applying for a full-time job as a pharmacist in the Middle Eastern country, as he had recently graduated the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy.

The FBI believes a significant number of jihad-related documents were deleted from the computer in 2008, but hopes to be able to recover them to find enough evidence to put Mehanna behind bars.

To the world at large, Terek Mehanna appeared to merely be a recent college graduate, and a passionate writer.  He was apparently an active leader in the Muslim community, and used to attend services at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland. The suspect kept a blog on the popular blog publishing site WordPress.com, using the alias Abu Sabaya. At time of publishing the blog is available, but a chat widget tells visitors “Abu Sabaya is offline — leave a message.”

If convicted, Mehanna will remain offline for up to 15 years.