ST. CLOUD — An Avon police officer who shot and killed an attacker at a central Minnesota mall last September has been honored by the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

Officer Jason Falconer received the association’s Officer of the Year award Monday night.

Falconer, a firearms instructor and competitive shooter, was off-duty and shopping at Crossroads Center in St. Cloud when Dahir Adan, dressed in a security guard uniform, stabbed and injured 10 people at the mall. Falconer shot Adan after Adan lunged at him with a knife.

Avon Police Chief Corey Nellis tells WJON-AM Falconer “absolutely saved lives” that night.

Less than a month after the attack, Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall announced that Falconer would not face any criminal charges in the shooting.