SALT LAKE CITY — Multiple charges, including two counts of aggravated attempted murder, were filed Friday against the man accused of stabbing a West Valley City mall employee over his religion earlier this week.
Along with the first-degree felony attempted murder charges, Peter Michael Larsen was also charged with one count of conduct with a dangerous weapon.
Larsen was charged with a hate crime, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said, which be taken into account at sentencing should Larsen be convicted.
The charges claim Larsen stabbed Syed Sohail Uddin multiple times at a Valley Fair Mall kiosk on Monday, and did so because Uddin was Muslim. Uddin remains hospitalized after undergoing surgery for numerous injuries suffered during the attack.
The charges against Larsen say he had planned to go to the mall "to make an exhibition of Muslims and hopefully be a catalyst so people would rid the country of Muslims." Larsen purchased the knife allegedly used in the stabbing on the day of the attack.
Larsen told detectives that he wanted to "decapitate" Uddin and "throw his head down the hallway as a sign that the country would not be overruled by Muslims," adding that he wanted to "eat [Uddin's] heart."
“I just did attempted murder. I’ve never done anything like that before, but I think the country’s worth it and there needs to be something done," said Larsen after his arrest.
Gill spoke of Larsen's alleged actions and how they contradict the spirit of the community.
"An alleged unprovoked attack on anyone in our community is unacceptable, but an attack allegedly motivated because of the victim’s religion is alarming," he said. "This conduct is not only an alleged attack on the two victims, but it also an attack on the values and ideals that bind us as a community and one that still welcomes the stranger."
Valley Fair Mall stabbing suspect pleaded guilty to threatening cops, firefighters. Why was he out?
At the time of Monday's assault, Larsen was still on parole following a 2022 incident in which he threatened to shoot firefighters who had responded to his Salt Lake City home after setting his own yard on fire. Larsen then confronted police with a shotgun when ordered out of the home, forcing officers to fire their own weapons.
Larsen was sentenced to 1-15 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of assault on a police officer and one count of arson. He was released from prison in January 2025, although the conditions of his release were not available.
