An FBI official says investigators are viewing an attack at a Minnesota mall in which a man stabbed nine people as a possible act of terrorism.
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The off-duty police officer who confronted and fatally shot the man suspected of stabbing nine people in a St. Cloud mall was roundly praised for split-second heroics that likely spared further harm to many others inside the shopping center on a weekend evening.
Authorities “have no reason to believe” anyone else was involved in the attacks, Anderson said.
While officials have not released details on the motive, the suspect is now being called a “soldier of the Islamic State” according to the militant group’s news agency. ISIS has encouraged so-called “lone wolf” attacks.
Adan, 22, was born in Africa but has lived in the USA for 15 years, his father, Ahmed Adan, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Ahmed Adan, who is Somali, says his son came to the USA 15 years ago and was was a student at St. Cloud Technical and Community College.
Meanwhile, St. Cloud Technical and Community College says Adan was never a student there, as has been reported.
The suspect had a history of minor traffic violations, Anderson said, but “wasn’t under any surveillance by our agency”.
St. Cloud Mayor David Kleis said during a hastily arranged news conference in his city’s police headquarters that Falconer’s “life was clearly in danger” during what had been an uneventful shopping trip for the part-time officer in Avon, Minn. But after the mass killings by Islamic State-inspired terrorists in Orlando, Fla., and San Bernardino, Calif., as well as the major attacks in France and Belgium, it’s clear we are in the middle of an ongoing ISIS offensive, security experts say.
None of the victims suffered life threatening injuries.
Falconer told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he’s “been trying to stay away from it all, for the time being”.
The suspect reportedly asked at least one person if he or she were Muslim before the attack, according to witnesses quoted in the media.
Leaders of the Somali community in central Minnesota united to condemn the stabbings.
She said her store has security cameras and a gate that would closed in case of an emergency.
The community has been a target for terror recruiters in recent years.
The Somali-American community there has struggled for years with the draw of extremism for some of its young people.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The mall attack was part of a terrifying 24 hours in the U.S.
The stabbings – none of them fatal – occurred around 8 p.m.in the Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud, about 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Thousands of people were about to participate in the 5K race in Seaside Park. There was no immediate indication that the incidents were linked.
He says police didn’t mention the attack on the mall, but they seized photos and other materials from the family’s apartment. “I thought someone tipped over a shelf”.
“It was a pa-pow, and then we saw the people start to run, which didn’t catch me at first”, he said.
The couple were unharmed and said they helped another woman who was running from the scene to her auto.
With potential backlash set to follow the stabbing, Mohamoud Mohamed, a spokesman for the Central Minnesota Islamic Center in St. Cloud, said at the Sunday news conference the Muslim community in central Minnesota has no ties to any Islamic terrorist groups.
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No one answered the door late Sunday at a home address listed for Falconer, and a voicemail box for a telephone listing was full and not accepting new messages.
