MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Somalis in a central Minnesota city are trying to square the bright, family-minded young man who went to the mall to buy the new iPhone with the emotionless man who stabbed 10 people and in death is the subject of a terrorism investigation.
The aftermath of Saturday’s attack at Crossroads Center Mall in St. Cloud also is testing longstanding efforts to improve strained relations between thousands of Somalis and other residents in the city. Several Somalis said they saw pickups driving through predominantly Somali neighborhoods the night after the attack, waving confederate flags and honking.
It’s still unclear what led 20-year-old Dahir Adan to stab several people with what appeared to be a kitchen knife before he was confronted and killed by an off-duty police officer. Investigators are poring through witness and victim accounts, video footage and Adan’s electronic devices to piece it together – determining whether an Islamic State-run news agency’s claim that the attacker was a “soldier of the Islamic State” is true.
“We don’t know the rest of the connection. Did he get angry with someone and lose his mind?” said Abdul Kulane, a local community leader and friend of the Adan family. “We are all shocked because we don’t know what kind of strife could cause him to do this.”
St. Cloud’s police chief has said it seems Adan acted alone. On Tuesday, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force assumed the lead on the investigation. FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said he could not discuss any investigative details, but that authorities are following up on all leads.