Police: Woman Stabs 2 Outside Bloomington Library
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) -- Two people were stabbed in a seemingly random attack at a Twin Cities library.
After the incident Wednesday night at the Oxboro Library in Bloomington, 35-year-old Samira Abdalla Salim was arrested.
Salim was no stranger to the Oxboro Library. She had a reputation for handing out the Koran and talking religion outside the building.
"They had some issues with her harassing other patrons," said Bloomington Police Commander Mark Stehlik.
But it's what investigators say she did on Wednesday night that surprised everyone.
"I never thought she would do that. She was very nice," said Anisa Ahmed, Salim's neighbor.
Salim is accused of stabbing two people. The first victim was a woman who was walking into the library.
"The next thing she knew, she felt a sharp pain in the middle of her back and realized she had been stabbed," said Stehlik.
The second was a security guard who heard the victim's cry for help. He went to talk to Salim in the parking lot.
"Spoke to her briefly and then she actually stabbed him as well. Stabbed him in the abdomen," said Stehlik.
Because Salim lived next door to the library, witnesses identified her right away and she was arrested in minutes.
"Nobody was worried about her committing a violent act," said Stehlik.
Fourteen-year-old Ahmed lives next door to Salim and only knows a friendly lady whose kids were friends with her sisters.
"She'd greet us every morning ... and she'd get to know us," said Ahmed.
Now the question everyone wants answered is why a woman who was not seen as a threat suddenly became violent.
"It's unusual. Somebody minding their own business, walking into library, it doesn't happen too often where they become victim of assault like this," said Stehlik.
The victims had minor injuries. Police say they weren't stabbed with a knife but a sharp, pointy object.
