SALT LAKE CITY -- The mayor and police chief sought to head off any potential backlash against Bosnian immigrants Thursday, three days after a Bosnian teenager shot five people to death in a crowded shopping mall and then died in a shootout with police.

Mayor Rocky Anderson blasted vitriolic Internet postings and e-mails sent to newspapers that suggested the shooter was an Islamic terrorist, calling such criticism from "fact-free people" unjustified and outrageous.

Sulejman Talovic, 18, shot nine people, five fatally, at the Trolley Square mall Monday before he was stopped by police. He and his family emigrated to Utah as war refugees in 1998.

Investigators have not determined a motive but have no reason to believe Talovic was driven by religious extremism, Police Chief Chris Burbank said.

Several thousand people from the Balkans have settled in the Salt Lake City area, many of them after fleeing ethnic violence in their homeland.

The mayor and police chief assured dozens of Bosnian immigrants that authorities would not stand for any threats against their community.

Bosnia's ambassador to the United States, Bisera Turkovic, met with local leaders and said her country was shocked by the teenager's actions.

"Something bad like this was my main reason for coming," Turkovic said during a two-day visit from Washington, D.C., that included a stop at a Bosnian restaurant.

"We owe this country much for our freedom, our prosperity," she said. "So for this to happen to people who are welcoming to us is shocking."

Church bells rang Thursday evening as bagpipes played for a solemn candlelight vigil at the city library that drew hundreds of mourners, including victims' families.

Burbank's voice broke with emotion as he praised five officers who confronted the gunman and said they were troubled they didn't end the bloodshed sooner. Turkovic said her country was shamed by "this unspeakable crime committed by one sick person."

Also Thursday, new details emerged about the shooter.

At age 12, Talovic was hauled into juvenile court, accused of threatening a little girl with a knife, The Salt Lake Tribune reported on its Web site, quoting an unidentified source. The newspaper also quoted a former landlord who said Talovic pulled a knife on him when he was barely 10. The landlord said he did not call police because Talovic was so young, the newspaper said.

Court officials said they could not find any juvenile records for Talovic, although the police chief said Tuesday that Talovic had some minor run-ins with the law as a boy. The source told the Tribune the records were expunged in October when Talovic turned 18.

Maruf Arifovic, a 53-year-old painting contractor who arrived in Utah in 1998, said Bosnian immigrants "don't feel so happy as a community" in the wake of the attack. But, he said, the shooting had "nothing to do with the Bosnian people. We are very moral people."

None of the Bosnians who met with the ambassador for lunch said they knew of anyone who had been directly threatened since the rampage.

Four people who were wounded in the attack remained hospitalized.

Also Thursday, police released the names of four Salt Lake City officers who confronted Talovic: Sgts. Andy Oblad and Josh Scharman, and detectives Dustin Marshall and Brett Olsen.

They will be honored by the Utah Legislature and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Friday, along with Ogden Officer Ken Hammond, who was off-duty and eating dinner at the mall. Hammond was credited with preventing Talovic from killing more people before other officers arrived.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.