People stand near the entrance on the north side of Crossroads Center mall between Macy’s and Target as officials investigate a reported multiple stabbing incident on September 17, 2016.
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“If I was going to ask anyone to fire live rounds in a crowded mall, I would trust his abilities over anybody’s”, Chief Nellis said.
Minnesota is home to 25,000 immigrants from Somalia, the largest Somali population in the country.
So it’s notable that on Monday morning, St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson shut down Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy when Doocy asked if he shared Donald Trump’s concern about refugees representing a “cancer from within” that presents an existential threat to communities like his.
(St. Cloud Times/Jason Wachter via AP). He grew up in St. Cloud and graduated from Apollo High School in 2014. According to Anderson, most of the encounters were for minor traffic violations, none of which led to an arrest.
Meanwhile, St Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis praised as “a hero” off-duty police officer Jason Falconer, who confronted the attacker and fatally shot him as he charged with a knife.
They also condemn any acts of violence and terrorism against any people in our communities.
Mr Yusuf, who has spoken with Adan’s parents, said Adan went to the mall to pick up an iPhone.
“People really need to be aware of their surroundings and especially in Sioux Falls we have a great community and we don’t have the big huge problems but you just never know when something could happen”, Clemens says.
Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand.
The police said the 22-year-old attacker, who was in a security guard uniform, had asked some victims whether they were Muslim and also made “some references to Allah” before stabbing them. If Saturday’s stabbings are ultimately deemed a terrorist act, it would be the first carried out by a Somali on USA soil, said Karen Greenburg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University School of Law.
The mall remained closed Sunday.
Falconer, who was shopping when he confronted the attacker, is the former police chief in Albany, which is about 15 miles northwest of St. Cloud, and the president and owner of a firing range and firearms training facility, according to his LinkedIn profile.
President Obama said that the Minnesota attack was not believed to be connected to suspected bomber Ahmad Rahami’s planting explosives in NY and New Jersey.
Due to the nature of his injuries, the 21-year-old man did not tell police or initially seek medical attention.
He said it doesn’t appear anyone else was involved in the attack at the Crossroads Center in St. Cloud, which began about 8 p.m. and was over within minutes.
Nobody was killed in Saturday’s attack that is being investigated as terrorism, federal authorities said.
Ismail Ali, a student at St. Cloud State University where Adan attended college, said the city was at a crossroads.
While an ISIS affiliated media outlet has claimed the attacker “was a soldier of the Islamic State”, there is no evidence suggesting any foreign group had any direct hand in the planning or execution of the attack.
Some in Minnesota’s Somali community have long expressed suspicion of law enforcement and charge that they have been stigmatized as terrorists by the authorities.
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“[I hope] they do not use this incident as a way to continue to polarize, divide and spread fear in our communities”, Jaylani Hussein said.
