Criminal investigation

Friends Say Minnesota Attacker Was ‘Normal American Kid’

The man who the police say stabbed 10 people at a mall here on Saturday seemed like a model of assimilation, not a violent jihadist, 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.

A report by a news agency linked to the Islamic State claimed on Sunday that a “soldier of the Islamic State” was behind the stabbing. The F.B.I. is investigating the attack as a possible terrorist act.