(AhlulBayt News Agency) - A 'soldier of ISIS' went on a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota shopping mall before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer, the terror group claims.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack at the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud on Saturday night in a statement released through their propaganda channel Amaq today.
The attacker, who reportedly made references to Allah and asked at least one person whether they were Muslim, injured eight people, St Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said.
ISIS released a statement on Sunday that read: 'The executor of the stabbing attacks in Minnesota yesterday was a soldier of ISIS and carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of countries belonging to the crusader coalition.'
Anderson held off on calling the attack an act of terrorism on Saturday, saying instead: 'We will be diligent and get to the bottom of this.'
It remains unclear whether the suspect, whose identity has not been released, had direct contact with the terror group, which encourages 'lone wolf' attacks.
Anderson said the assailant, who was dressed in a 'private security uniform', entered the Crossroads mall around 8pm last night.
'That individual made some references to Allah and we confirmed that he asked at least one person if they were Muslim before assaulting them,' he added.
Police had at least three prior contacts with the suspect for 'minor traffic violations'.
Anderson said an off-duty police officer from another jurisdiction shot and killed the unidentified suspect. He did not disclose what department that officer works in.
Harley and Tama Exsted of Isle, Minnesota, who traveled to 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 said. '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.
Ashley Bayne was in the mall and told WCCO: 'I went closer to the mall entrance by J.C. Penney's and I was looking at some jeans and all the sudden people were just running in chaos.
'They were screaming, "Someone's stabbing people in the mall," and people were just really frantic and were running.'
She recalled to the news outlet: 'When I got in my car to get out people were speeding out of there.
'By the time I left my coworker had texted me saying they had all gone into lockdown in the mall.
'There were no notifications in the mall at all, it was just people running and screaming.'
St. Cloud is about 70 miles (112.65 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis.
It's worth noting that both Sunnis and Shia scholars have announced that these extreme actions are not in compliance with Islam's teachings.
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source : Dailymail
Sunday
18 September 2016
4:08:32 PM
779903
A 'soldier of ISIS' went on a stabbing rampage at a Minnesota shopping mall before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer, the terror group claims.