UPDATE: Mall Attacker Referenced ‘Allah,’ Asked if People Were Muslims Before Stabbing Them, Police Chief Says

From WJON

(ST. CLOUD) — St. Cloud’s police chief says the suspect in a stabbing attack on customers at the Crossroads Shopping Center in St. Cloud Saturday night referenced “Allah” and asked a victim if they were Muslim.

Police Chief Blair Anderson says the armed suspect — dressed in a security guard uniform — walked into Crossroads Shopping Center Saturday night just after 8 before stabbing at least eight people. Anderson says an off-duty officer from another jurisdiction engaged the suspect and fatally shot him.

Anderson says according to witness accounts to police, the suspect made some references to Allah and asked at least one person in the mall if they were Muslim before attacking them.

Police say the Crossroads Shopping Center is an active crime scene and will be closed Sunday as police process the crime scene and interview people who were in the mall at the time of the attack.

Chief Anderson says the stabbings happened in multiple locations in the mall. Anderson says there is no evidence that anyone besides the one suspect was involved in the stabbing. He says there’s no imminent threat to residents.

Chris Nelson with CentraCare Health says eight people were taken to St. Cloud Hospital. Seven were treated and released. One was admitted, though their condition wasn’t immediately available. But Chief Anderson says all of the victims suffered from non-life threatening injuries. 

Police have not released the identity of the attacker, but they know who he is.