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'We Move On': Officer Who Shot Mall Attacker Honored With Bravery Award

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota has had its share of heroes over the years, but there has perhaps never been a more modest response to praise than from Avon police officer Jason Falconer.

He is credited with single handedly stopping an apparent terror attack at a St. Cloud Mall in 2016. The attack left 10 people hurt, but could have been much worse.

U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer were there Thursday morning to present Falconer with the Congressional Badge of Bravery at a ceremony in St. Cloud.

"I appreciate this honor," Falconer said. "You know I was obviously not looking for any award for this event. Actually, I thought this was all said and done and over."

Watch the honoring ceremony here:

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Following the mall attack, Falconer had declined to do interviews and receive honors. It was even difficult for him to do Thursday's event, according to the congressman.

"That is about as Minnesota you can be," Emmer told Falconer at Thursday's ceremony. "The way you were acting, no one would ever know you were being awarded the Congressional Badge of Bravery."

The police officer had a special message for reporters Thursday, many of which had been trying to get interviews with him since 2016.

"I have been avoiding all the media, so as the media goes, this is what you get," Falconer said. "Nothing else. It's done. We move on."

The 2016 attacked happened at Crossroads mall in St. Cloud. Dressed in a security guard uniform, Dahari Adan stabbed 10 people in various stores.

Falconer, who was off duty at the time, confronted the 22-year-old attacker inside Macy's, where he shot him.

Adan's relatives say that before the attack he had apparently become radicalized.

While ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, no ties to terrorists groups were ever proven.

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