ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — The Latest on the knife attack at a Minnesota mall being investigated as a potential act of terrorism (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
A Minnesota police chief says the part-time officer who fatally shot a man stabbing people at a St. Cloud mall was “the right person, at the right place, at the right time” to prevent the attack from getting worse.
Avon Police Chief Corey Nellis said at a news conference Monday that Jason Falconer “was the person who needed to be there.” Falconer was shopping at Crossroads Center on Saturday night when he shot a man who stabbed nine people and then lunged at Falconer with a knife.
Falconer owns a firing range and is the firearms instructor for the city of Avon. Nellis said: “If I was going to ask anybody to fire … live rounds in a crowded mall, I would trust his abilities next to anybody’s.”
Since Falconer has not been on the police schedule for some time, he has not been put on administrative leave. The FBI is investigating the stabbings as a potential terrorist act.
Falconer was not at the news conference.
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12:15 p.m.
St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson says there’s nothing yet to suggest that it more than “was a lone attacker” that stabbed nine people at a Minnesota mall over the weekend.
Gov. Mark Dayton said at a Monday news conference said the state will help however it can and asked citizens of St. Cloud and the state to “rise above” the incident.
Dayton met with St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis and other city officials before the news conference.
Kleis said it’s been a trying time for the city and said he has tremendous respect for the off-duty officer who shot and killed the attacker.
Nine people were injured in Saturday’s stabbing attack; all have been treated and released.
Federal investigators say they’re looking at the attack as a potential act of terrorism after the Islamic State claimed the suspect had heeded its calls for attacks in countries that are part of a U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition.
The motive is unknown.
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11:30 a.m.
Uniformed security guards are visibly present at a Minnesota shopping mall that has reopened after a man stabbed nine people in what authorities are investigating as a potential terrorist incident.
There was a steady trickle of shoppers into the Crossroads Center in St. Cloud after the doors opened Monday. The mall was closed Sunday while authorities investigated Saturday night’s incident, which ended when an off-duty police officer shot and killed the suspect.
Adnan Alasker, who was in town from Saudi Arabia to visit his son at St. Cloud State University, said he feels badly about the violence. He says all people are brothers and equal regardless of their religion.
Mall officials declined to comment Monday, referring questions to police. All nine people who were attacked were treated at a hospital and released.
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11:15 am.
President Barack Obama says there is no apparent connection between the stabbings at a mall in Minnesota and the bombings in New York and New Jersey.
The president on Monday echoed FBI officials, who have said they’re investigating Saturday’s stabbing of nine people at a St. Cloud mall as a potential act of terrorism.
Gov. Mark Dayton, who traveled to St. Cloud, says Obama called him Monday morning to express concern about the stabbing and offer any assistance.
Dayton says the president told him to convey his “deep appreciation” for the work of investigators and the police officer who stopped the attacker.
The man, whom his father has identified as 22-year-old Dahir Adan, was fatally shot by an off-duty officer at Crossroads Center mall.
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10:35 a.m.
The man who was fatally shot by an off-duty officer after stabbing nine people at a Minnesota mall this weekend had worked as a security guard for a store near the mall.
Electrolux Home Products’ spokeswoman Eloise Hale said Monday that the man was an employee of the security firm Securitas and was assigned for a few months to an Electrolux facility. That assignment ended in June.
Officials said the man, whom his father has identified as 22-year-old Dahir Adan, was dressed as a security guard when he stabbed people Saturday.
The city’s police chief said the man reportedly made at least one reference to Allah and asked a victim if he or she was Muslim before attacking. It isn’t clear whether Adan was radicalized.
All of those who were injured have been released from a hospital.
This item has been corrected to show that the Electrolux facility is not in the Crossroads Center mall at St. Cloud.
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6:15 a.m.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton plans to travel to St. Cloud to meet with city officials about the weekend stabbing at a local mall that is being investigated as a potential act of terrorism.
Dayton and Lt. Gov. Tina Smith are scheduled to meet with St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis on Monday morning.
Authorities say seven men, one woman and a 15-year-old girl were stabbed and injured by a young Somali man who was dressed as a private security guard when he entered the Crossroads Center mall Saturday. He appeared to be wielding a kitchen knife.
The city’s police chief said the man reportedly made at least one reference to Allah and asked a victim if he or she was Muslim before attacking. The rampage ended when the man was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer.
None of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries.
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1:20 a.m.
Authorities are investigating the stabbings of nine people at a central Minnesota mall as a potential act of terrorism, a finding that would be the realization of long-held fears of a domestic attack there.
The state is home to the nation’s largest Somali community, which has been a target for terror recruiters in recent years. The possibility of an attack on U.S. soil has been a major concern for law enforcement.
The motive for Saturday’s attack at a St. Cloud mall is still unclear, but FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Rick Thornton said Sunday the stabbings were being investigated as a “potential act of terrorism.”
The Islamic State also claimed responsibility, though it wasn’t immediately clear if the extremist group had planned the attack or even knew about it beforehand.
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