A man making “some references to Allah” had stabbed and injured eight people in a shopping mall in the USA state of Minnesota, before being shot dead by an off-duty officer, police said.
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Authorities said the assailant in the mall attack is reported to have mentioned Allah and to have asked at least one of his victims if he or she was Muslim.
The off duty officer who shot the suspect is Jason Falconer of Avon, Minnesota. But today there is one thing we all share: “We are thankful for the bravery of the off-duty officer and first responders who went beyond the call of duty to save lives”.
St. Cloud Mayor David Kleis said an attack like Saturday’s is the type of worry that keeps him “up at night”.
“The individual we believe to be responsible for the victim’s stab wounds is now deceased inside the mall”, police said early Sunday.
She said they later saw two men drenched in blood; one was bleeding from the side of his face, while the other had blood on the back of his shirt.
Police and witnesses said the attacker, wearing a private security company uniform, entered Crossroads Mall on Saturday night around 8 p.m. CT.
Local police had three previous encounters with the suspect, most for minor traffic violations, Anderson said, adding that the FBI had offered to help with the investigation.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS confirmed with a member of the Somali community in St. Cloud that the suspect was Dahir Aden.
The Islamic State group has claimed the attacker was one of its own, though it’s unclear if the group planned or even knew of the attack ahead of time. St. Cloud, Minn., Police Chief William Blair Anderson and other officials hold a press conference Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, giving updated information on the Crossroads Center incident at the St. Cloud Police Depar.
She said her store has security cameras and a gate that would closed in case of an emergency. “And right now, we’re trying to get to the bottom of his motivations”.
All nine victims – seven men, a woman and a 15-year-old girl – were treated at hospitals for wounds that weren’t life-threatening, Anderson said during the news conference Sunday.
“The executor of the stabbing attacks in Minnesota yesterday (Saturday) was a soldier of the Islamic State who carried out the operation in response to calls to target citizens of countries belonging to the crusader coalition”, Amaq news agency said. The news agency said the attacked had heeded calls from the extremist group for attacks in country that are part of a US -led anti-ISIS coalition.
The attack in St. Cloud, a city of about 65,000 people 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis, began shortly after an explosion in a crowded New York City neighborhood injured 29 people.
“All of a sudden I heard pop pop pop”, Harley said. “I just thought someone tipped over a shelf”.
This attack is the first in the USA since ISIS called for terrorists to use everyday items as weapons back in August.
“It’s not just random people being upset and acting randomly”.
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A pipe bomb also exploded in a New Jersey beach town on Saturday along the route of a charity race to benefit military veterans but no injuries were reported in what investigators also were treating as a possible act of terrorism.
