The man who was fatally shot by an off-duty officer after stabbing nine people at a Minnesota mall this weekend had worked as a security guard for a store near the mall. At a press conference on Sunday, St. Cloud Mayor David Kleis called Falconer a hero, saying he put his own life at risk to prevent anyone else from getting injured. “His heroic actions are exemplary”. They said the suspect does not represent them, and they expressed fear about a backlash. Nearly immediately, the suspect then lunged at Falconer with the knife. The officer fired again, he got back up.
Advertisement
CCTV footage showed Adan falling and getting up three times, continuing to lunge at Mr Falconer who was shooting at him. Adan, who was born in Africa but had lived in the United States for 15 years, was identified by his father as the assailant in the St. Cloud, Minnesota mall stabbing attack. “Officer Falconer was there at the right time and the right place”, he said.
The attacker, wearing a private security company uniform, entered Crossroads Mall on Saturday night around 8 p.m.
CNN hasn’t independently verified the claim, and on Monday, authorities maintained that the suspect appeared to have acted alone.
Ten people — eight men, one woman and a teenage girl — were injured in Saturday’s attack at the Crossroads Center mall; none of their injuries were life-threatening, according to authorities.
Other groups may also pause to gauge whether an attack crossed certain lines of brutality, something that Byman said isn’t an issue for IS, whose calling card has been extreme violence.
All eight stabbing victims had been released from St. Cloud Hospital by Sunday night.
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton planned to travel to St Cloud to meet with the city’s mayor and other local officials on Monday morning to discuss the case.
The time from the first 911 call to when the suspect was shot and killed was approximately five minutes, Anderson said.
For Hersi, she simply hoped just the tragedy would offer an opportunity to bring St. Cloud residents together – rather than divide them further. Anderson said. He also credited Falconer for actions that were “swift and direct and, in my opinion, appropriate”.
After the stabber was confirmed dead, the police chief said two search warrants were executed at an address in St. Cloud, and the suspect’s vehicle has been impounded.
But, the investigation is ongoing and active, he said.
Anderson said the attack will change the city forever.
President Barack Obama said this morning that the FBI is investigating the Minnesota incident “as a potential act of terrorism”.
“And I do say ‘potential.’ There is a lot we don’t know”, Thornton said.
“We’re all trying to find answers as to what happened”, Yussuf said. “That’s what the investigation is attempting to ascertain at this point in time”.
The mall doesn’t have video in all of its common areas.
While authorities have not yet identified the stabber, they say he had three previous encounters with police.
Kleis gave some identifying information about the victims but didn’t fully identify them.
“We are devastated by (the) incomprehensible tragic event of last Saturday evening”, said a statement from Adan’s family distributed to reporters at a news conference by the family’s attorney, Abdulwahid Osman. “If this happened anywhere, it’s happening everywhere”.
Advertisement
“Our family loves St. Cloud and this State and we are (an) integral part of the fabric of this society”.
