Nine people were hurt in total during the knife attacks at Minnesota mall. The attacker, who is allegedly a "soldier of the Islamic State," was shot dead by an off-duty police officer, according to reports.
St. Cloud police Chief William Blair Anderson stated that the attacker, who was wearing a private security uniform, made references to Allah and asked at least one person if they were Muslims before he assaulted them.
"An armed suspect entered the Crossroads Mall. That individual made some references to Allah, and we have confirmed that he asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them. We still don't have anything substantive that would suggest anything more than what we know already, which is this was a lone attacker. And right now, we're trying to get to the bottom of his motivations," police chief Anderson stated, according to reports from CNN.
The suspect, who was killed by an off-duty police officer, was declined identification by St. Cloud, Minnesota police officers because an investigation was in progress.
However, NBC reported that an ISIS-affiliated news outlet claimed that the attacker was "a soldier of the Islamic State and. The suspect allegedly carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of countries belonging to the crusader coalition, according to a statement from the Amaq news agency.
Dave Kleis, St. Cloud city mayor said three people were hospitalized including one person who is in a crucial condition.
The stabbings occurred in different locations in the mall, including several stores and common area where the crowd usually stay. Reports say that there were security teams inside the mall but they were not armed.
The cop who shot the attacker was identified as Jason Falconer, an off-duty police officer formerly from Albany, Minnesota and a part-time officer for Avon. People are now prasing him for his heroic actions and for saving a huge crowd from possibly losing their lives.
FBI referred the attack as a "potential act of terrorism."
