FBI: Minnesota mall attacker was recent Muslim convert

FBI agents investigating the Sept. 17 stabbing attack at a mall in St. Cloud, Minn., said today they believe Dahir Ahmed Adan planned the attack ahead of time and acted on a recent devotion to Islam. Adan wounded 10 people before an off-duty officer shot and killed him. Investigators believe the 20-year-old Somali man adopted an extremist ideology a few months before the attack, showing little interest in Islam before then. During his rampage through Crossroads Center mall, he asked several victims if they were Muslims and yelled “Allahu akbar” and “Islam, Islam.” Terror group Islamic State’s official news outlet praised Adan as one of its “soldiers,” but investigators aren’t sure whether the group helped guide the attack or knew about it beforehand. They are still combing through his digital footprint to learn more about what might have prompted him to act.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.