By JENNIFER BROOKS AND PAUL WALSH
Thursday, October 06, 2016
ST. CLOUD — The off-duty police officer who shot and killed a man who stabbed 10 people last month at a St. Cloud mall was justified in shooting the assailant, who may have been inspired by Islamic terror causes, authorities said Thursday.
Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall, who revealed graphic video showing suspect Dahir Adan running about inside the Crossroads Center mall and being shot while holding knives, announced her decision during a news conference at police headquarters that cleared Avon police officer Jason Falconer of any wrongdoing.
In explaining her conclusion that the shooting was “justified and lawful,” Kendall laid out the events in the mall the night of Sept. 17, noting that Adan, a 20-year-old Somali refugee, was armed with two steak knives and asked some of his victims whether they were Muslim.
She said Adan entered the mall from the southeast, then ran through it to the north, chasing and stabbing his victims in the head, neck and chest while stores frantically shut their gates and shoppers ran for cover.
At one point, Kendall added, Adan asked Falconer, who had been in the mall shopping, whether he was Muslim. After seeing Adan armed with the knives, Falconer chased Adan, identified himself as an officer and ordered Adan to drop the knives.
“Sometimes he’s asking [people] whether they are Muslim, other times he’s just stabbing them,” Kendall said as she showed images of Adan’s movements in the mall that night.
With a knife in each hand, Adan charged Falconer twice, ignoring orders to stop, Kendall said. Adan, wearing a security uniform, was shot six times in all, the county attorney added.
Kendall then narrated while video showed Adan being shot by Falconer. At one point, Adan stumbled backward toward Falconer in Macy’s. Falconer then shoots Adan, who goes down on the floor, then struggles in an effort in vain to get back to his feet.
“You’re looking at an authorized use of deadly force,” Kendall said to those attending the briefing. “He was faced with an individual in a busy mall armed with two knives, one in each hand, brought to his attention after he was asked if he was Muslim with people running and screaming in fear.”
Falconer took the time to show his badge to frightened shoppers, some of whom were confused by the sight of a man in plainclothes shooting a man in a security uniform, the county attorney said.
After the briefing, members of the Somali community emphasized to reporters that the attacks were the work of one individual and should not reflect on an entire group of people.
Jaylani Hussein, director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that after weeks of fear and uncertainty, seeing the video of what actually happened in the mall might give the community “some level of closure.”
Although “there will always be questions, hopefully, with an ongoing investigation we’ll learn more,” he said.
Looking for terror link
With the determination that Falconer acted properly, local officials said the case now rests solely now with the FBI, which is dissecting what Adan’s motives may have been that night.
Hours after the stabbings, a media agency for ISIL took to Twitter and claimed credit for the attacks. The next day, St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson said authorities had not found evidence that Adan had been radicalized or had contact with terrorist groups.
But last week, FBI Director James Comey told a congressional committee that Adan might have been inspired in some way by a foreign terrorist group.
At Thursday’s news conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard Thornton said that Adan may have become radicalized, on his own or by others.
He stopped short of establishing a link between Adan and a terrorist group, but said that in recent months, Adan, described by friends and family as an excellent student, became interested in religion, lost interest in things he used to enjoy, such as basketball and video games, and flunked out of school.
Before the news conference, Adan’s family met privately with investigators and viewed the video.
Family attorney Abdulwahid Osman said that those close to Adan did not see what authorities described as a sullen and withdrawn young man who was increasingly obsessed about religion.
The stunned and grieving family “cannot reconcile their view of a loving son with what has been presented by law enforcement,” he said.
Thornton said that over the past 19 days investigators have interviewed more than 180 individuals, viewed hundreds of hours of video and have spent much time working on Adan’s digital footprint to determine whether there was a terror link. Thornton said the FBI also is assessing its legal and technical options in hopes of unlocking his phone to learn more about his thoughts leading up to the attacks.
Before the attacks, Thornton said, Adan stopped at a convenience store that he regularly visits. As he left, he told people there, “ ‘You won’t be seeing me again,’ ” Thornton said.
On the way to the mall, the FBI official said, Adan was involved in a hit-and-run with a bicyclist. The cyclist rolled across his hood, but Adan did not stop to render aid, Thornton said. Adan then ran a red light and arrived at the mall’s south lot, just six minutes from home.
St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis was the first to speak at Thursday’s news conference and focused on the victims who were stabbed, as well as those who were working in the mall that night and others who suffered the trauma of seeing the attacks unfold.
“Last Sunday, after mass, I had a woman approach me with her young child, the same child that was in her arms when she was at the mall when she witnessed that attack,” Kleis said. “She told me how difficult it has been for her to sleep since that night.
“So, the victims beyond the victims who were injured, please remember them and keep them your thoughts.”
Members of Adan’s family and others from the Somali community were also at the news conference.
Police took no questions from reporters afterward.