Anderson says they are waiting on the medical examiner to positively identify the suspect.
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Authorities have not released the name of the off-duty officer who’s from another jurisdiction.
The attacks shattered a sedate evening at Crossroads Center mall, the largest shopping center in Minnesota outside Minneapolis and St. Paul.
“All of a sudden I heard ‘pop, pop, pop, ‘” Harley Exsted told the St. Cloud Times. He also said that they are still investigating motive. There are no reports on whether there were any concealed carry permit holders who were present when the attack occurred but were unable to defend themselves due to mall policy. Officer Falconer’s quick actions saved lives and prevented additional injuries, and we are grateful for his heroism. He told the Star Tribune he had “no suspicion” that his son might have been involved in terrorist activity.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of the claim made by Islamic State through the group’s affiliated Amaq news agency. “But I want everybody in St. Cloud to know that we will be diligent and we will get to the bottom of this”. Those stabbed were attacked starting about 8:15 p.m.in corridors, businesses and common areas, authorities said.
Blair Anderson, police chief of St. Cloud, stated that the motivation for the stabbings was still murky.
“Officer Falconer was there at the right time and the right place”, he said. The eighth was admitted but no other details about that person’s condition were released. Three of the victims remain hospitalized with injuries that aren’t considered life-threatening.
The FBI joined the investigation of the incident, which it deems a “potential act of terrorism”.
Sydney Weires, Maggie Gelke and Jenna Remmele, students at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, had made a decision to head to the mall on Saturday.
“I saw this security guard sprinting down the hallway toward Target”, Weires told the Times.
Sydney Weires was at the mall during the incident. More from authorities is expected later Sunday.
The suspect, who has not been officially identified, was said to have been wearing the uniform of a private security firm when the attack occurred.
Bellow said his brother, whose shift was about a half-hour from ending when the violence broke out, sent him a text that said there was a shooter in the mall.
Anderson added that local police had encountered the suspect three times in the past, most for minor traffic violations. “There was a bunch of people running into the JCPenney mall entrance, and they were just screaming that someone was going around the mall stabbing people, and that there was blood everywhere”.
Nine people were injured in what authorities called a potential terrorist attack at Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud, Minn., on Saturday.
According to reports from the St. Cloud Police Department, the suspect mentioned Allah at least once during the attack and asked at least one of his victims whether they were Muslim before stabbing them.
An FBI official says investigators are viewing an attack at a St. Cloud mall in which a man stabbed several people as a possible act of terrorism.
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Shortly after, an off-duty officer confronted the attacker.
