A man making “some references to Allah” stabbed and injured eight people in a shopping mall in the US state of Minnesota, before being shot dead by an off-duty officer, police said
People near the entrance of Crossroads Center mall. Pic/AFP
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Washington: A man making “some references to Allah” stabbed and injured eight people in a shopping mall in the US state of Minnesota, before being shot dead by an off-duty officer, police said.
The suspect “asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them,” said Blair Anderson, the police chief in the city of St Cloud where the attack took place.
But he emphasised that the assailant’s motivation remained unclear and said “whether that was a terrorist attack or not, I’m not willing to say that right now because we just don’t know.”
The lone suspect was wearing a private security uniform and had at least one knife, the police chief said. “That suspect was confronted by an off-duty police officer and summarily shot and killed,” he added.
The St Cloud mall was put on lockdown in the aftermath of the attack, with local media reporting that people were being allowed to leave late Saturday. The facility will remain closed as police continue their investigation.
“It’s an awful day,” Anderson said. “Starting tomorrow, things won’t be the same here.”
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