A Utah man accused of stabbing a Muslim mall worker multiple times in broad daylight told police he targeted the victim because of his religion and “intends to kill Muslims,” according to court documents.
Investigators allege Peter Michael Larsen, 48, carried out the attack Monday inside Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City after asking the victim about his faith. The victim has been named by friends in local media as Sohail.
Police wrote in a booking affidavit that Larsen poses “a substantial danger to the public” because of his “violent actions … ideologies and pre-planned mass casualty events.”
The victim suffered multiple stab wounds across his body and was bleeding heavily when officers arrived, according to the affidavit.
Police said Larsen was tackled to the ground and subdued by bystanders before officers arrived at the scene.
Larsen was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of attempted murder and prohibited dangerous weapon conduct, according to jail records.
The victim, who worked at a mall kiosk, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, citing Utah Islamic Center Imam Shuaib Din, Larsen approached the victim, asked his name and religion, and requested a bottle of water. As the victim turned away to retrieve it, Larsen allegedly began stabbing him.
A GoFundMe page created by a friend, Luna Nunez, who works in a nearby jewelry store says the victim was stabbed 15 times and has undergone multiple surgeries.
“I know he doesn’t have insurance. He’s the only man that is working in his family. He has two babies and a wife, and they are not working right now,” Nunez told KSL.
“This is just crazy. Hate crime, there’s no space for hate,” the victim’s manager, Adnan Mohammed, told Fox 13.
“Always smiling, laughing, working very hard. You know, I promoted him as a manager to operate everything… When you kill a human, you’re not just killing one guy. You’re killing a whole family.”
In a separate interview with ABC Salt Lake City, Mohammed said, “I wish I was there to protect him. I would’ve given my life to protect him.”
Meanwhile, Nunez described the chaos of the scene in an interview with the station.
“I was throwing anything I could, shoes, a chair, anything. [Larsen] was stabbing him so vicious. I was scared for his life. I was just scared. I thought he was going to die.”
Mohammed paid tribute to those who intervened. “There’s heroes, who saved his life, who still exist. Humanity still exists,” he said.
Nunez told the ABC affiliate that she heard Larsen ask Sohail where he was from.
“He said [Larsen] asked, ‘where are you from’, and he told him, ‘I’m from India, my name’s Sohail,” Larsen said ‘are you Muslim’, and Sohail said yes, and he just began stabbing him.”
Nunez added that she heard from other mall workers that the suspect had been going around the mall, asking them about their religion.
Larsen was also treated at a hospital for injuries he sustained after being subdued by bystanders before being booked into jail.
Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate reports that in 2022, police went to Larsen’s home after he set his yard on fire and then threatened to shoot responding firefighters. In the incident, shots were fired, but Larsen, who was armed with a shotgun, was unharmed.
He was sentenced to prison over the incident and released in January 2025. He completed his high school diploma while incarcerated.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and other Muslim advocacy groups condemned the attack.
Civil rights groups have warned of rising anti-Muslim hate in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, with renewed concerns in recent years tied to anti-immigration rhetoric, white supremacist activity and tensions surrounding the war in Gaza.
Imam Shuaib Din of the Utah Islamic Center in West Jordan told the Tribune, “On the surface, it seems like it’s against one individual, but it’s not that one person who is a victim. The whole entire community is a victim because now they all feel unsafe.”
