At the Crossroads Center mall in Minnesota, a man victimized ten innocent people and was shot down by an off-duty police officer. The attacker in his early twenties, Dahir Ahmed Adan, used a collapsible knife just three to four inches long to inflict injuries on his victims. The young Somali man entered the mall dressed as a private security guard at approximately 8:00 p.m. and caused chaos until stopped minutes later. Thankfully, none of the wounds the victims suffered were life threatening.

It is believed his actions were terroristic, however he operated alone and appears to not be in contact with the Islamic State. Yet, an ISIS-linked news agency claimed that Adan was a “soldier of the Islamic-State”. The FBI is also calling the event, “a potential act of terrorism.”

Adan was identified by his father, Ahmed Adan, on Sunday and by the St. Cloud police department on Monday night. The family’s lawyer released a statement saying, “As we mourn the death of our son, Dahir Adan, who was very dear to us, we are in deep shock as everyone else is in the state of Minnesota.” They are distraught as to why their son would cause such terror without a history of violent behavior. The only thing on his record was a traffic ticket, he was currently between jobs and had just attended a spring semester in college.

The St. Cloud Police Chief William Blair Anderson told a CNN reporter, “We still don’t have anything substantive that would suggest anything more than what we know already, which is [that he] was a lone attacker…And right now, we’re trying to get to the bottom of his motivations.”

One of the victims, Isaiah Mordal, was with his 9-month pregnant girlfriend, Johanna Bohnenkamp, when the attack began and after assuring Bohnenkamp was alright, he ran after Adan in an effort to alert any other potential victims. He was also called 911 according to Fox News.

The business owner, Jason Falconer, that shot and killed Adan to end his violent rampage is reacting to the situation calmly and humbly. He was previously the police chief of Albany Police Department but now runs Tactical Advantage, where he provides training to the Avon Police Department and emphasizes safety with firearms. Pete Jansky, an employee, told Fox News, “I work for a very good man. He did what needed to be done.”

Falconer teaches the importance of safety and knows how to react in highly intense situations. It is ironic that he was carrying off-duty when the mall officers were without any arms to protect civilians. So when the attack occurred Falconer was more than equipped to assess the situation and unarm Adan.

The mall Adan targeted is considered a “soft target” for being unprotected by authorities with firearms. These places are seen by many to be safer, however are inevitably more dangerous. Some Americans have voiced their fear of guns and believe gun free zones are a better solution.

However, if Falconer wouldn’t have been armed, Adan would have continued to terrorize innocent people until the police arrived on the scene. This is one of several events that have thankfully been cut short due to an educated citizen who was carrying.

The Second Amendment is undoubtedly as important as freedom itself. Without it, every Americans’ life stands at risk to violence and terrorism. Having said that, it is vital to run through background checks and insure that each individual is stable and trained enough to carry on the streets.