The suspect behind a mass stabbing at a Minnesota shopping center has been named as Dahir Adan, it has been reported.

Eight people were injured in the attack at the Crossroads shopping center in St Cloud before the assailant was shot dead by an off-duty police officer, Sky News reported on Monday.

The attacker has been identified by his father as Dahir Adan, 22, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Ahmed Adan said police officers told him that his son died at the shopping center but would not disclose anything about the attack.

Adan added that he had "no suspicion" his son had been involved in terrorist activity.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that Dahir Adan, a student at St Cloud State University, was a Somali-American, born in Kenya.

A spokesman for St Cloud State University said he had not been enrolled since the spring term.

Members of the Somali-American community in St Cloud held a news conference on Sunday to condemn the attack.

Police said that the attacker was known to them but only through minor driving offences.

Speaking on Saturday night, police chief Blair Anderson said the suspect had "made some references to Allah".

He added: "We have confirmed that he asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them."

A Daesh statement said the killer, who was wearing a security guard's uniform, was a "soldier of Daesh".

However, the FBI has only said it is investigating the incident as a "potential act of terrorism".

The attack in St Cloud began shortly after an explosion in New York, which left 29 injured.

Source: MENA