Minnesota attacker worked as a security guard, officials say

Abdulwahid Osman, the lawyer for the family of Dahir Ahmed Adan, speaks Monday during a news conference at St. Cloud City Hall in Minnesota. Abdulwahid Osman, the lawyer for the family of Dahir Ahmed Adan, speaks Monday during a news conference at St. Cloud City Hall in Minnesota.   –Leila Navidi / Star Tribune via AP

By Mitch Smith and Richard Perez-Pena, New York Times News Service  12:59 AM

1. CLOUD, Minn. — The man who the police say stabbed 10 people at a mall here on Saturday seemed like a model of assimilation, not a violent jihadi, people who knew him and his family said. The son of Somali refugees, he lived in the United States most of his life, did well in school, played sports, worked as a security guard, and took classes at a local college.

But a new description has been applied to him: terrorist. As he stalked through the Crossroads Center mall, wearing a security guard uniform and wielding a knife, the attacker, identified by officials on Monday as Dahir Adan, 20, mentioned Allah and asked at least one victim if he was Muslim, the police said.