Police in Minnesota, USA, shot dead a man after he stabbed eight people at Crossroads Mall on Saturday. The stabbings took place in a number of locations inside the mall in St Cloud city. There was security present inside, but they were not armed. The attacker was gunned down by an off-duty office, CNN reported.

None of the eight victims sustained any life-threatening injuries, Chief of St Cloud Police William B Anderson said. "Whether that was a terrorist attack or not, I'm not willing to say that right now because we just don't know," he said, adding that they do not have evidence to indicate anyone else's involvement in the incident.

Marked as a crime scene, the mall will remain closed until further notice. According to witnesses, the assaulter made a reference to Allah and asked at least one person whether they were Muslim before he began the attack, police said in a statement.

St Cloud is located about 105 km northwest of Minneapolis.