ST. CLOUD, Minn.—He was a recent college student with an interest in computers who had worked part time as a private security guard. He was said to be an honor student in high school. And he had nothing more than a minor traffic citation on his record.
But on Saturday, for reasons still unclear, authorities say Dahir Ahmed Adan put on a security guard uniform and went into a central Minnesota mall armed with what appeared to be a kitchen knife. In an attack that took just minutes, he injured 10 people before he was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer.
Those who know Adan, 20, say he was a calm, cool guy with a good head on his shoulders. They are trying to come to terms with what happened and figure out what pushed him to violence.
“We have a thirst for answers,” said Abdul Kulane, a community advocate in the St. Cloud area. “What was his motivation? What happened?”
Authorities have released little information about Adan but say they are investigating the attacks as a potential act of terrorism. An Islamic State-run news agency claimed the attacker was a “soldier” for the group.
One victim, Ryan Schliep, told WCCO-TV that Adan “just walked right at me” before quickly stabbing Schliep in the head.
“He looked just blank in the eyes like he wasn’t even there,” Schliep said.
Jama Alimad, a Somali community advocate and friend of the family, told the Star Tribune that Adan was more into sports than religion, describing him as “the most assimilated kid in the neighborhood.”
“He was an A student. He was a tutor. He was employed,” Alimad told the newspaper.
A spokesman for the family, Abdi Wahid Osman, read from a statement expressing condolences for the injured and anyone else who was impacted.
“As we mourn the death of our son, Dahir Adan, who was very dear to us, we are in deep shock as everyone else is in the state of Minnesota,” the statement said.
Adan had been recently worked part-time by the security firm Securitas, and he was assigned for a few months to an Electrolux factory near the mall, Electrolux spokeswoman Eloise Hale said. A statement from Securitas said he resigned from the company in June.
A spokesman for St. Cloud State University confirmed Adan was a student majoring in information systems, but hasn’t been enrolled since the spring semester.
