And I do say potential.
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Leaders of the Somali community in central Minnesota are condemning the stabbing of nine people at a mall.
Police have yet to officially identify the mall attacker, but several Minnesota news outlets and Associated Press have named, and leaders of the Somali-American community in Minnesota have also confirmed his identity.
Weires says she and her friends ran out of the mall.
“Officer Falconer was there at the right time at the right place”, Mayor Kleis said. “Call the cops!'” The girls followed the guard, thinking he was chasing a shoplifter or kidnapper but when they caught up to him they said they saw two men.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that Dahir Adan, a student at St Cloud State University, was a Somali-American, born in Kenya.
Officers from St. Cloud, Waite Park, Cold Spring and the Minnesota State Patrol, as well as Gold Cross ambulance and St. Cloud Fire Department crews were on the scene.
Adan said that police raided the family apartment in St Cloud, and seized photos and other materials, but noted that he didn’t learn about his son’s rampage in the nearby Crossroads Center mall until much later. Authorities have given no indication that the attacks were connected.
An FBI official said that investigators are viewing the attack as a possible act of terrorism.
A Daesh-run news agency, Rasd, reported Sunday that the terror group was taking responsibility for the attack, calling the perpetrator its “soldier”.
Richard Thornton, FBI special agent in Minneapolis, said during the news conference that the attacks are being investigated as a “potential” act of terrorism, but the suspect’s motive remains unknown.
Falconer, who was off-duty and happened to be at the mall Saturday night, is also a former chief of police in Albany, Minnesota. They identified him as Officer Jason Falconer. The source went on to say, “But right now, it’s all about the victims”. He said he’d seen her through the glass doors at one point so he knew she was safe.
The second man had blood on the back of his shirt, Weires said.
Anderson added that those injured in the attack are expected to survive.
The slain suspect, clad in a private-security uniform, was first spotted around 8:15 p.m. carrying what appeared to be a kitchen knife around the Crossroads Center Macy’s.
An off-duty police officer shot and killed him. Initially officers reported a total of eight victims but one victim drove himself to the hospital later and was initially unknown to authorities.
Only three of the nine people injured are still being treated at area hospitals.
Fargo, N.D. (WDAY/WDAZ-TV)- The St. Cloud mall attack suspect previously lived in Fargo.
Speaking on Saturday night, police chief Blair Anderson said the suspect had “made some references to Allah”.
The so-called Islamic State claimed the man was one of its supporters, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation said no link had been found.
None of the victims had life-threatening wounds.
It’s not clear if the attacker was in contact with ISIS or if he acted alone.
IS has repeatedly called for lone-wolf attacks on countries in the US-led coalition targeting the jihadist group with air strikes in Syria and Iraq, with France and Belgium bearing the brunt of such actions.
“He clearly prevented additional injuries and potential loss of life”, Kleis said Sunday afternoon.
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St. Cloud Police Chief William Anderson said police had had three previous encounters with the man, mostly for minor traffic violations.
