Nine people wounded in stabbing attack on Minnesota mall

St. Cloud police confirm multiple stabbing victims at Crossroads Center. Suspect dead inside. @kare11 pic.twitter.com/kf3qBQy7rt

— Heidi Wigdahl (@HeidiWigdahl) September 18, 2016

A man dressed as a security guard slashed nine people with a knife at a Minnesota mall Saturday night before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer, authorities said.

Islamic State-linked media called the assailant a “soldier of the Islamic State,” the Associated Press reported Sunday. Police said the attacker, who has yet to be identified, made a reference to Allah and asked one person if they were Muslim during the assault.

The attack occurred around 8:00 p.m. EDT in Crossroads Center, a mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, about 65 miles north of Minneapolis. None of the injuries were life-threatening, St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said in a press conference early Sunday.

Anderson said the motive for the stabbings was unclear and did not call it an act of terrorism.

Witnesses described hearing several rounds of gunfire, causing people nearby to scatter and run. The mall remained on lockdown Sunday morning.

“We will be diligent and get to the bottom of this,” Anderson said at the press conference. “Starting tomorrow, things won’t be the same here.”