Desk report (19 September, 2016) : At least eight people were wounded in a stabbing attack at a shopping mall in the US state of Minnesota, before the suspected attacker was shot dead by police, officials say. The attack happened in St Cloud, 70 miles (110km) north-west of Minneapolis. The motive is unclear. The suspected attacker reportedly made references to Allah before he was killed. None of the injuries were life-threatening, local police said.
An off-duty police officer from another jurisdiction shot and killed the suspect, said St Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson.
The suspect, who has not been identified, was said to have been wearing the uniform of a private security firm when the attack occurred. The attacker asked at least one person if they were Muslim, Anderson said, adding police “will be diligent and get to the bottom of this”.
He said police have no evidence to believe more than one person was involved in the attack. While the attacker was not identified, authorities said he'd had three previous encounters with police. Anderson said most of the encounters were for minor traffic violations. None resulted in an arrest. Anderson declined to provide further details or say whether the attacker was a resident of St. Cloud. He said he is not ready to describe the stabbings as a terrorist attack until details such as a motive are established. “What we know is it is a lone suspect who attacked at least eight people … whether that was a terrorist attack or not, I'm not willing to say that right now because we just don't know,” Anderson said. – See more at: http://dailyasianage.com/news/31319/8-injured-suspect–shot-dead#sthash.OKSIuNCF.dpuf
