ISIS has claimed responsibility for a stabbing attack that injured nine people at a Minnesota mall Saturday night.
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The attack occurred around 8 p.m. inside the Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, about 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The attack ended when the off-duty officer shot and killed the knife-welding attacker.
All of the victims, whose ages range from 15 to 53, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The department released a statement saying that “the individual we believe to be responsible for the victim’s stab wounds is now deceased inside the mall”.
Ahmed Adan told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that police told him Saturday night that his son, Dahir A. Adan, died at Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud.The Saint Cloud Times is reporting Dahir Adan, a member of the local Somali Community, was the man who attacked nine people at a local mall Saturday while shouting about “Allah”.
Authorities don’t believe the knife-wielding man was a mall employee but declined to comment on whether the incident was an act of worldwide terrorism.
“We do not at this point in time know whether the subject was in contact with, had connections with or was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization”, Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Rick Thorton said at a press conference on Sunday.
On Sunday, the Associated Press reported an Islamic State-run news agency called Rasad claimed the suspect was a “soldier of the Islamic State”.
The suspect has had encounters with police before, Anderson told reporters, but most were for minor traffic violations.
Amid the chaos, Jason Falconer, an off-duty police officer from nearby Avon, killed the suspect as he threatened other shoppers.
A man in a security uniform and armed with a knife entered the mall and stabbed people in several locations, including corridors, businesses and common areas, the chief said.
“I ran as much as I could and I heard someone yell ‘Stop!”
Today he again made his priorities very clear: Dayton Calls For Tolerance After St. Cloud Mall Attack CBS Minnesota September 18.
The suspect “asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them”, Blair Anderson, the police chief in the city of St Cloud where the attack took place, told journalists.
Central Minnesota Somali leaders condemned the attack. Investigators also found the suspect’s vehicle in the mall parking lot.
“We could have been one of the victims”, Weires told the paper.
Bayne said she ran out to the parking lot and took off in her auto.
But at a news conference Sunday afternoon, the mayor and police chief praised Falconer, a part-time officer and a former police chief of Albany, Minnesota, for stepping into action.
The attacker charged at Falconer, who fired his weapon, causing him to fall down, the Guardian reported. “I thought someone tipped over a shelf”.
The stabbings came as 29 people were wounded in a bomb attack on a busy NY neighbourhood Saturday.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said she was briefed on the stabbing, as well as on the explosions in NY and New Jersey, according to CBS affiliate WCCO.
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“One was covered in blood down his face”, she said, and the other man had blood on his back. Hours before that, a pipe bomb exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, shortly before thousands of runners were due to participate in a charity 5K race.
