Update: Surprise! (not!). He is a Somali, here.
Update: ISIS says he is one of theirs. So they know who he is and we don’t (and it is nearly noon eastern). See ISIS taking credit here.
Sheesh, they know who this guy is, the one who went on a stabbing attack at a St. Cloud, Minnesota mall and was subsequently shot to death. So what takes them so long to announce to the public who the “man” is—a refugee or an American convert to Islam?
Did he act alone?
I’ve been searching and searching so at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning this is about all there is on what obviously was a terror attack (whatever else they want to call it). By the way, we have written extensively on St. Cloud over the years and have visited the troubled city twice, most recently on my roadtrip to see towns and cities overloaded and troubled with large numbers of refugees.
From AP story:
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — At least eight people were taken to a hospital with injuries after a stabbing attack at a Minnesota shopping mall that ended with the suspected attacker, who reportedly made references to Allah, shot dead by an off-duty police officer, authorities said.
St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said during a news conference shortly after midnight 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. One person was admitted. No further details were released.
Anderson said an off-duty police officer from another jurisdiction shot and killed the unidentified suspect. He did not say where that officer serves.
During the news conference, Anderson said the attacker who was armed with a knife reportedly made references 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.
More when the attacker is identified.
I wonder did ISIS send out instructions and three of their followers were activated yesterday—in New Jersey, New York City and St. Cloud, MN.
See our St. Cloud archive here where Lutheran Social Services has been pouring in the Somali refugees for several years now.