by AP

ISIS has claimed responsibility for a mass stabbing at a
Minnesota mall.

A knife-wielding suspect who was dressed in a private security
uniform and made references to Allah while attacking at least
eight people at a Minnesota shopping mall was shot dead by
an off-duty police officer, authorities said. St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said during a news
conference that eight people were taken to St. Cloud Hospital
with non-life-threatening injuries following the attack first
reported about 8:15 p.m. Saturday at the Crossroads Center. One
person was admitted. 

An ISIS statement claimed the man was responding to a call to
attack citizens. Anderson said an off-duty police officer from another
jurisdiction shot and killed the unidentified suspect, who was
armed with a knife and wearing a private security firm uniform at
the time of the attack. Anderson did not say where the off-duty
officer serves.

Anderson also said the suspect made at least one reference to
Allah during the attack and asked at least one person whether
they were Muslim.

But 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. “Starting
tomorrow, things won’t be the same here.”

Local police had three previous encounters with the suspect, most
for minor traffic violations, Anderson said, adding that the FBI
had offered to help with the investigation.

Authorities “have no reason to believe” anyone else was involved
in the attacks, Anderson said. He said the stabbings occurred in
several places within the mall, including corridors, businesses
and common areas.

“The entire mall is an active crime scene,” Anderson said.

The mall remained on lockdown following the incident, but
authorities expected those remaining inside to be released early
Sunday. Photos and video of the mall taken hours after the
incident showed groups of shoppers waiting to be released,
including some huddled together near a food court entrance.

Harley and Tama Exsted of Isle, Minnesota, who were in St. Cloud
to watch their son play in a college golf tournament, were in the
mall when the incident occurred.

“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.”

There also were reports of some shots fired during the attack.

The couple were unharmed and said they helped another woman who
was running from the scene to her car.

Adonis Samuels, 42, of St. Cloud, was outside the mall where his
wife Roxanne is employed as a manager at Clinique at Macy’s.

“She called me on the phone and told me she was hiding under the
counter with a customer,” Samuels said. She later called and said
she was safe in a secured area.

Samuels remained outside, watching for her. He said he’d seen her
through the glass doors at one point so he knew she was safe.

St. Cloud is about 70 miles (112.65 kilometers) northwest of
Minneapolis.