Crossroads Mall Mass Stabbing Attack 2016

Jan. 1, 2019
"Mass attacks" are often assumed to be performed with one or more guns and stopped by responding on-duty officers. Neither is a correct assumption as this event shows.

There are a couple of assumptions that generally get made when a mass attack occurs today. First, most assume it’s someone shooting a gun (or guns) in a crowded area. Second, many assume that the police will be first to respond and confront or neutralize the shooter. Both assumptions are false (or can be) and the incident that occurred at the Crossroads Center shopping mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 2016 is the perfect example.

One September 17th that year, at approximately 8:15 in the evening, Dahir A. Adan began attacking people with two butcher knives. The attack injured ten people, three of whom were hospitalized. It was ended by an off-duty police officer, Jason Falconer, who confronted the perpetrator, shooting him after being attacked.

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The remainder of this article is part of the book "Active Killers and the Crimes They Perpetrated," available in print or ebook via Amazon.

About the Author

Joshua Borelli

Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.

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