WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — The man accused of stabbing an employee inside the Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City intended to kill the man because he was Muslim, court documents show.
Peter Michael Larsen, 48, is being held without bail and faces charges of Attempted Murder and carrying a prohibited weapon.
The West Valley City Police Department said Larsen had a brief interaction with Syed Sohail Uddin on Monday before he pulled out a knife and stabbed the kiosk employee multiple times in the stomach.
Bystanders who witnessed the incident subdued Larsen and held him until police arrived on the scene.
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Uddin was transported to the hospital where he underwent surgery. Larsen was also hospitalized with injuries suffered after he was punched in the head by those who stepped in to stop the alleged assault.
Uddin remained in critical condition as of 2 p.m. Tuesday. A GoFundMe has been set up to help him and his family with medical expenses.
After being arrested, Larsen told an officer that he had specifically targeted the victim "with intent to kill him because of his religion," court documents stated, which added that the employee was Muslim.
"We are investigating any possible motives and any possible relationship between the suspect and victim," the police department said.
A witness told FOX 13 News that he was inside a nearby store where he worked when he heard shouting and people running away from a scene where the alleged stabbing had taken place.
“When you see people panicking like that… we're just supposed to close the gate and get away from the situation for sure. You don't want to be caught in something like that. It was pretty scary," said Andy Romero.
After working at the mall for 7 years, it was a feeling Romero never wanted to experience again.
“It's always pretty alarming," he said, "but I think back to when this has happened before, like 3-4 years ago, when there was a shooting in the mall… it was pretty scary.”
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Romero was simply working his regular shift when he heard something strange.
“We heard the initial shouting, and that's pretty rare," said Romero. "You don't usually hear that inside the mall."
