Man charged with assault for stabbing at Mall of America Macy's
Mahad Abdirahaman
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (KMSP) - A Minneapolis man is charged with two counts assault for stabbing two shoppers at the Macy’s in the Mall of America Sunday.
According to the criminal complaint, a 19-year-old man had come to the Macy’s with his family to do some shopping. He came out of the dressing room to show his family the pants he was thinking of buying.
When he returned to the dressing room, 20-year-old Mahad Abdiraham was near it and looked as if he was about to go inside.
The 19-year-old went into the fitting room, got dressed and tried to come out, but when he exited the dressing room, Abdiraham was standing there with a large knife. When the victim tried to push past him, Abdiraham began slashing at him. The victim received multiple cuts across his face, head and back of his arms, with some of the latter cuts going to the bone.
The victim’s family heard him screaming and a 25-year-old man and another witness came to his rescue. They subdued Abdiraham and took away the knife. The 25-year-old tried to grab the knife and ended up with cuts to his hands and back, which required 42 stitches. The 19-year-old victim needed a blood transfusion and has permanent scarring to his head.
Surveillance video from Macy’s confirmed the victims’ and witnesses’ accounts of the stabbing.
Abdiraham has previously been arrested for stabbing two staff members with a pen at an in-patient psychiatric unit.
He is expected to make his first court appearance on Wednesday.
Mall of America statement
Bloomington Police immediately took appropriate actions to control last night’s isolated incident to ensure the safety and security of our guests. Mall of America has the largest privately trained security force in the country and we are vigilant and committed to providing a safe environment for our guests, employees and tenants.