VIDEO: Footage Released of Off-Duty MN Officer Killing Mall Terrorist
A 20-year-old Somali refugee who stabbed 10 people last month at a St. Cloud mall and terrified others witnessing the brutal attacks could well have been inspired by Islamic terror causes, authorities said Thursday.
Dahir Adan had become increasingly interested in Islam and had withdrawn from school and the things he once enjoyed, such as basketball and video games, in the months before the Sept. 17 attacks at the Crossroads Center mall, FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard Thornton said at a news conference at police headquarters.
Armed with two steak knives, Adan raced through the mall that night and stabbed victims in the head, neck and chest while store employees frantically shut their gates and shoppers ran for cover, according to authorities and video of the scene that was shown at the news conference.
In several instances, authorities said, Adan had asked some of his victims whether they were Muslim. While stabbing one victim, he yelled “Allahu akbar [God is the greatest] and also “Islam, Islam” during the attacks, Thornton said.
The attacks ended when Jason Falconer, an off-duty Avon, MN, police officer who had been shopping at the mall, fatally shot Adan in a confrontation.
With a knife in each hand, Adan charged Falconer twice, ignoring orders to stop, Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall said. Adan, wearing a security uniform, was shot six times in all, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.
The shooting occurs around the 5-minute mark in the video.
