AVON, Minn. _ Jason Falconer was in the wrong place at just the right time.
Avon Police Chief Corey Nellis credited "divine intervention" with putting one of his most experienced officers _ a part-time member of the small-town department who also owns a firing range and training facility _ at the Crossroads Center mall Saturday night just as a man with a knife began attacking shoppers.
"I am very proud of Officer Falconer's heroic actions in confronting the perpetrator of the stabbing assaults," Nellis told reporters Monday at a news conference at Avon City Hall.
"Officer Falconer put himself in harm's way to protect the public from a man who had already stabbed nine victims and would have very likely harmed more people, had (he) not acted so quickly."
Falconer, a competitive shooter who serves as a firearms instructor for the city, was uniquely qualified to respond to the crisis, Nellis said.
"If I was going to ask anybody to fire live rounds in a crowded mall, I would trust his abilities," Nellis said.
One of the people who crowded into the Avon City Hall to listen to the news conference Monday morning was a woman who was working in the mall Saturday night. She and a customer dove to the floor, terrified, when they heard shots ring out.
"I am very thankful to Jason," said the woman, an Avon resident who did not want to be identified, but who knows Falconer as a familiar face around the small town of 1,400 people about 85 miles northwest of Minneapolis. "No. 1, for being there, but also for putting his life at stake for the rest of us."
The woman said that she's doing "OK," but "it is very nerve-racking. It is very scary. It makes you a little more frightened, a little more cautious ... It's in the back of your mind, always."
She said she heard that the attacker entered the mall at the Sears store and slashed his way through the center until he was cornered in the Macy's store _ not far from a play area where several children were playing at the time of the final confrontation. She said that she had heard that nearby stores had rushed in with toys and snacks to comfort the children until they could go home.
When she returned home herself late Saturday, she said she "got the biggest hug" from her college-age daughter, who had spent a frantic evening fielding worried texts and calls from friends and family who had heard about the attack.
"I'm thankful that I'm here," she said. Her employer has offered counseling to her and other frightened employees. "That was close enough."
The woman worries, though, whether other threats might come in the future.
"It's always on my mind," she said.
Nellis, meanwhile, asked the media and the public to respect Falconer's privacy.
"No police officer ever wants to draw his gun, much less use it. Doing so is a difficult decision for any officer," Nellis said. "We would like everyone to recognize that although Officer Falconer's actions saved countless lives, he too is a victim in this situation.
"In my opinion, given Officer Falconer's training and abilities, he was the right person at the right place at the right time on Saturday night to prevent this incident from getting worse."
