A knife-wielding man who
injured eight people at a mall in central Minnesota Saturday evening asked at
least one victim whether they were Muslim and referenced Allah during the
assault, authorities said Wednesday.
St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson said the suspect,
whom he did not identify, was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer
from another jurisdiction. All but one of the eight victims had been treated
and released from a local hospital and all were expected to survive their
injuries.
Police responded reports of several stabbings at the Crossroads
Mall at around 8:30 p.m. local time. Witnesses also reported hearing gunshots
at the scene.
Anderson declined to call the attacks an act of terrorism,
saying the motive for the attacks isn't known yet. "We will be diligent
and get to the bottom of this," Anderson said.
The chief added that the suspect was wearing the uniform of a
private security company and noted his only prior contact with police had been
through traffic stops.
The attack caused chaos and prompted a lockdown of the mall,
which is located approximately 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
“I
went closer to the mall entrance by J.C. Penney’s and I was looking at some
jeans and all the sudden people were just running in chaos,” worker Ashley
Bayne told WCCO. “They were screaming,
‘Someone’s stabbing people in the mall,’ and people were just really frantic
and were running.”
Harley and Tama Exsted of Isle, Minn., who were in St. Cloud to
watch their son play in a college golf tournament, were in the mall.
"All
of a sudden I heard pop pop pop," Harley Exsted told the St. Cloud Times. "I thought
someone tipped over a shelf. All of a sudden these people started running. I
just saw everybody running our way."
The two were unharmed and said they helped another woman who was
running from the scene to her car.
Anderson said the mall would remain closed on Sunday due to the
ongoing investigation.
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