Winona State director of security addresses protocol following Crossroads mall stabbing

Cheney Mason / Winonan

What seemed like a normal night at work for St. Cloud State University student Haley Martin turned into a nightmare when she was told by authorities that her life was in danger.

Ten people were injured in a stabbing at Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud, Minn. around 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17. Sources say the suspect, 22-year-old Dahir Adan, attended St. Cloud State University.

While St. Cloud is more than three hours away from Winona State University, some students on campus still felt the emotional impact of the attack.

Winona State senior Sharna Miller grew up in Annandale, Minn., about a half an hour away from St. Cloud, Minn., and remembers visiting Crossroads Center mall often.

Miller said an event like the attack at the mall was something that was hard for her to comprehend.

“I almost went back [the weekend of the attack]for a family reunion, but stayed in Winona to study for an upcoming exam,” Miller said. “It hit close to home knowing that something this tragic happened in my own area and in a place I know and love so much.”

At the time of the attack, Martin, a sophomore student majoring in communication, was with a co-worker.

“I was actually working at the mall,” Martin said. “It was just me and one other girl working in our store.”

Martin said she noticed the store was not as busy as usual and also recalls seeing many people running by the store, which at the time did not seem to be much of a concern.

“At the time both me and my manager were at the back of the store, so we didn’t know what was going on in the hallway,” Martin said. “I was walking to the front of the store and a SWAT member and a police officer came in and said the mall was in lockdown.”

Martin added that nobody had told them what was going on, and she had no idea what kind of danger she was in. She and her co-workers were directed to lock down the store and hide.

“So we grabbed the customers we had in the store, and we went to the dressing rooms to hide,” Martin said. “We were scrolling through Facebook and stuff to see what was going on.”

Martin said they waited in the locked dressing room for about a half hour before a police officer evacuated them.

“It was really scary because we didn’t know what was actually happening,” Martin said. “We thought like somebody’s got a gun, somebody’s got a knife, are they going to blow up the mall?”

Martin, as well as multiple others hiding in different places around the mall, were escorted into the mall’s food court and out of the exit doors from there.

Martin remembered it being a very chaotic situation to be in at the time, and officials told the crowd the suspect was still not confirmed found.

“A lot of people were really uncomfortable being out in the open in the food court because no one knew where he was,” Martin said. “It was all just a blur.”

While Martin made it out of the mall safely, Director of Security at Winona State University, Chris Cichosz, explained the university also has security procedures if any kind of threat was brought to campus.

Cichosz said the main role of security would be to get the word out to all of the students through the Star Alert program through the university.

“We would notify law enforcement as soon as possible,” Cichosz said. “We will be trying to send out a Star Alert.”

Cichosz also explained security would be there to help law enforcement if needed by keeping students away from the area to keep everyone safe.

“Obviously we would be coordinating with first responders, ambulance and people who are going to be caring for the injured,” Cichosz said. “…we would be trying to block the area off, secure it as best we can.”

-By Cheney Mason