Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the student who carried out a knife attack on fellow students at Ohio State University Monday. Image courtesy of Kevin Stankiewicz / The Lantern.
Eight people have been rushed to area hospitals in the wake of gun violence on the campus of Ohio State University. According to CBS News, authorities said they killed at least one suspect during an active shooter lockdown at the university Monday morning. There’s no word on whether there’s a second shooter, but police are urging locals to shelter in place as they work to diffuse the situation.
So far, eight people have been reported injured, with one victim in critical condition, according to Columbus Fire spokeswoman Rebecca Diehm.
The deadly incident began around 9:30 a.m. while firefighters were responding to reports of a chlorine leak in the chemical engineering building, CBS affiliate WBNS reported. The suspect had reportedly rammed a vehicle into the building, and then started attacking people inside with a knife. That’s when the university sent out an emergency campus alert to students and staff.
Buckeye Alert: Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. Watts Hall. 19th and College.
— OSU Emergency Mngmnt (@OSU_EMFP) November 28, 2016
“We heard a lot of sirens,” OSU senior Anthony Falzarano, 22, told CNN. “I was in class and everyone got a text message at the same time for the emergency alert. Someone said they heard popping right before we got the alert, but I didn’t hear it. We are in a shelter-in-place right now in the building next door.”
Falzarano also noted seeing lots of law enforcement personnel “putting on Kelvar vests” and carrying “big weapons.”
https://twitter.com/_falzarano/status/803255052622303232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Another student, 19-year-old Wyatt Crosher reported hearing gunfire from across the street.
“We can’t see the building where the shooting happened because of a dorm blocking our view,” Crosher said. “It truly sounded like gunshots, and really soon after, we heard a bunch of sirens. We can see the police cars from our dorm.”
Students have been urged to stay away from the crime scene as police and other authorities continue investigating. A tweet from NBC Columbus noted that the shelter in place has been lifted, but that the area around 19th and College Avenue remains closed.
All classes at the campus have been canceled for the remainder of the day.
***Update***
What was initially reported as a shooting at the Ohio State University campus Monday turned out to be a car and knife attack carried out by a lone suspect.
The attacker, 18-year-old Abdul Razak Ali Artan, deliberately rammed is vehicle into the university’s chemical engineering building, exited his car and began slashing students in his path with a butcher knife.
Police ultimately shot and killed Artan; the gun shots reported by students came from law enforcement officials, not the suspect, like previously thought.
According to NBC News, Artan, a Somali immigrant, reportedly posted a cryptic rant to his Facebook page that seemingly foreshadowed Monday’s attack.
“America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially Muslim Ummah [community],” he wrote. “We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that.”
The OSU attacker also made reference to “lone wolf attacks” carried out by Muslims and cited radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, NBC News reports.
Earlier this year, Artan was featured in campus newspaper, The Lantern, and described feeling “kind of scared” about praying in public.
“If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don’t know what they’re going to think, what’s going to happen,” he was quoted as saying.
There is still no known motive behind the attack.
Please check back for updates.
