Police said the suspect told them he “intends to kill Muslims” and that he constituted “a substantial danger to the public if released based on ​his violent actions … ideologies and pre-planned mass casualty events.”

The incident took place inside the Valley ​Fair Mall in Utah’s West Valley City on Monday. The male victim had “multiple ⁠stab wounds all over his body and was bleeding profusely,” police said in an affidavit.

Authorities said ​the suspect was pinned to the ground by bystanders before officers arrived on the scene.

The suspect, Peter Michael ​Larsen, 48, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for a probe over attempted murder and prohibited dangerous weapon conduct, jail records showed on Tuesday. The victim was a male Muslim kiosk worker.

The suspect said “he had targeted the ​victim with intent to kill him because of his religion (Muslim),” according to the police booking affidavit.

The ​suspect approached the Muslim man, asked for his name, asked about his religion and indicated he wanted a bottle of ‌water, ⁠the Salt Lake Tribune reported, citing comments from Imam Shuaib Din, who leads the Utah Islamic Centre and had been in contact with the victim’s family.

As the victim turned to get the water, the attacker began stabbing him, according to Din.

The victim was hospitalised and in critical condition. A friend set ​up a GoFundMe page for ​him, which said ⁠the Muslim man was stabbed 15 times and needed surgeries.

The attacker was also hospitalised because of wounds sustained while he was subdued by bystanders, before being ​booked into the Salt Lake County jail.

Muslim rights groups, including the Council ​on American-Islamic Relations, ⁠condemned the incident.

US rights advocates have noted rising Islamaphobia over the last two-plus decades following the September 11, 2001, attacks, and more recently because of anti-immigration policies, white supremacy and the fallout of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Deadly violent attacks ⁠in recent ​years include a 2023 stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim child ​in Illinois, whose killer was sentenced to 53 years in prison and died in custody, and a 2026 shooting at a mosque in San Diego that left five dead, including two teenage suspects.