COLUMBUS, Ohio — In less than two minutes an attack on the Ohio State University campus ended with the person responsible dead and 11 people injured, school and city officials said Monday.
Eleven people were hospitalized as a result of the attack.
Ohio State officials lauded the efforts of Officer Alan Horujko in stopping Abdul Razak Ali Artan before he could injure more people.
Artan, an 18-year-old Ohio State student of Somali descent, rammed his car into a group of pedestrians. Horujko shot the knife-wielding man when he failed to comply with orders to put down his weapon, Ohio State President Dr. Michael V. Drake said in a news conference Monday.
Abdul Razak Ali Artan, suspect in the Ohio State University attack rammed his car into a group of pedestrians before using a butcher knife to cut several people, university officials said.
Authorities are still investigating Artan’s motive. When asked if the incident was terror-related or had anything to do with Artan’s connection to the Somali community, Drake cautioned against a rush to judgment.
“We all know when things like this happen that there’s a tendency sometimes for people to put people together and create other kinds of theories. We don’t know anything that would link this to any community. We certainly don’t have any evidence that would say that’s the case,” Drake said.
“What we want to do is really unify together and support each other; do our best to support those who were injured in their recovery, and then allow the investigation to take place.”
Alan Horujko is the newest officers in the OSU Police Department. The Ohio State University Police have identified Alan Horujko as the officer who shot and killed the suspect, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, Monday morning.
What we know about the attacker
A community member who spoke to the attacker’s family described them as shocked. The community member described Artan as a good kid. She said Artan had just finished community college before starting this semester at Ohio State.
Investigators are examining Artan’s Facebook page to determine whether the attack was terrorism, though it will take some time to ascertain the motive.
A Facebook page believed to belong to him included grievances about attacks on Muslims, according to two federal law enforcement officials.
A US official said Artan was a legal permanent resident. Separately, a federal law enforcement official and a US official said Artan came to the country in 2014 with his family.
They were in Pakistan after leaving Somalia before coming to the United States two years ago, the US official said.
How it happened
At 9:52 a.m., the assailant drove over a curb and struck pedestrians near Watts Hall, Ohio State Police Chief Craig Stone said.
Horujko called in the car at 9:52 a.m. A few seconds later, he called in to say he had engaged with the suspect. At 9:53 a.m., he radioed in again to say he had shot the suspect.
“He got out of the vehicle and started using a butcher knife to start cutting pedestrians,” Stone said.
Student Jacob Bower, 20, said he saw the attacker outside between the Koffolt Laboratories and Watts Hall.
“He pulled a large knife and started chasing people around, trying to attack them,” Bower told CNN, adding that he did not see anyone get stabbed.
“Luckily there were so many people, he couldn’t focus on one target,” he said.
It took Horujko three shots to take Artan down, Bower said.
“He waited ’til everyone was clear, and the stabber clearly wasn’t stopping.”
Throughout the attack, the assailant didn’t yell or say anything, Bower said.
“He was completely silent, which was very creepy. Not even when he was shot (by police),” the student said.
“The cop that subdued the guy with the knife saved so many lives today.”
‘Run, hide, fight’
Drake and others credited the school’s active shooter training and alert system for helping the school community maintain order while the scene was secured.
At 9:55 a.m., the school sent out a campus alert reporting an active shooter incident.
“Buckeye Alert: Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. Watts Hall. 19th and College,” Ohio State Emergency Management tweeted at 9:56 a.m.
While students waited to hear word on the attacker’s movements, some piled chairs against a door to block him from getting in.
“I’m safe in a barricaded room,” Harrison Roth tweeted. “If you’re on campus, get in a room and stay safe.”
Ohio State’s Columbus campus is colossal, one of the largest in the United States. The university has more than 65,000 students enrolled across the state.
Students had just returned to class Monday after the Thanksgiving break — and after the OSU football team’s big win Saturday over the school’s biggest rival, the University of Michigan.
Michigan’s athletic department tweeted its support for Ohio State, saying “Stay safe, Buckeyes.”
