A Muslim kiosk worker was stabbed more than 15 times inside a Utah shopping mall Monday by a man who later told police he intended to kill him "because of his religion," according to local media reports citing a probable cause statement.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported Tuesday that the 48-year-old attacker approached the worker, identified only as Sohail, at Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City, struck up a brief conversation and asked for his name and about his religion.
As the worker turned to retrieve a bottle of water, the attacker began stabbing him, according to the report, citing Imam Shuaib Din, who leads the Utah Islamic Center in West Jordan and has been in contact with the victim's family.
Local broadcaster KUTV identified the suspect as Peter Larsen, saying he was taken into custody Monday after police responded to the mall.
Before police arrived, several bystanders tackled the attacker, pinned him down and wrestled the knife from his hand, according to court documents cited by the Salt Lake Tribune.
Both the victim and the suspect were hospitalized, the latter after being punched by bystanders during the struggle, the police said.
A GoFundMe campaign set up for the worker said he requires surgeries on his hands, heart and lungs. The suspect was booked into Salt Lake County jail and ordered held without bail.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the stabbing and called on public officials to reject anti-Muslim rhetoric.
"This horrific attack is yet another reminder that anti-Muslim rhetoric has real-world consequences," CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
"When Muslims are routinely demonized, portrayed as threats, or treated as less deserving of equal rights and dignity, some twisted individuals inevitably act on that hatred," he added.
CAIR said it documented 8,683 anti-Muslim bias complaints in 2025, the highest number recorded since it began tracking such cases in 1996.
The Utah Muslim Civic League also condemned the attack as a hate crime, praising bystanders who intervened.
