COLUMBUS – As classes are scheduled to resume on the campus of The Ohio State University, investigators are looking into whether a car-and-knife attack that injured 11 people, one critically, was an act of terror.
The university has scheduled a “Buckeye Strong” event: 7:00 p.m. today at St. John Arena, 410 Woody Hayes Drive, “to continue healing from the attack, officials announced.
“We have to consider that it is, that possibility,” said Columbus Chief of Police Kim Jacobs.
According to a report in The Columbus Dispatch, neighbors in the Havenwood Townhome complex on the West Side, where Artan reportedly lived, said police and the sheriff’s office bomb squad have been there since shortly after the situation on campus occurred. Police crime-scene tape surrounds the complex and officers reportedly are awaiting federal officials to search his apartment.
“He seemed like a normal guy,” neighbor Bob Carnahan told the Associated Press.
During a press conference Monday evening, university police Chief Craig Stone said the university’s camera system allowed police to look back at surveillance video to track the suspect’s whereabouts on campus before the incident occurred. The video indicated that Artan was alone in his car.
Meanwhile, the university police officer is being praised for shooting and killing the suspect shortly after the incident began.
Officer Alan Horujko, 28, started on the university police force in January 2015, Department of Public Safety Director Monica Moll said.
Horujko was outside of Watts Hall, at W. 19th Street west of College Road, at 9:52 a.m. Monday. Earlier in the morning, the building had been evacuated because of a report of a gas leak. Authorities now say the leak likely had nothing to do with the attack.
He had just cleared the scene from the gas-leak alarm when he saw a car strike several pedestrians who had been evacuated into the courtyard outside, according to a report in The Columbus Dispatch. He issued a radio alert that seven to eight pedestrians had been struck.
Abdul Razak Ali Artan got out of his car with a butcher knife and began stabbing the bystanders, according to Stone. When he did not comply with Horujko’s order to drop the knife, the officer shot and killed him, he said.
The Columbus Division of Police has taken the lead on the investigation and Horujko has been placed on administrative leave, according to a statement from the university.
“Days such as these test our spirit as Buckeyes — but together we remain unified in the face of adversity,” university president Dr. Michael Drake said.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Gov. John Kasich and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty were among those who expressed their support for the university and concern for the victims.
“It frankly took a piece out of everybody here at our beautiful Ohio State University that this could have happened here,” Kasich said. “But we are a strong, tough, resilient community.”
Ohio State’s Department of Public Safety issued a Buckeye Alert emergency notification at 9:54 a.m., advising campus community members to shelter in place. The shelter-in-place command was lifted at approximately 11:30 a.m., though law enforcement officers continued to investigate throughout the day.
RELATED: “Run, hide, fight.” The new approach to safety
Six victims were treated for injuries at the OSU Wexner Medical Center, two with stabbing-related injuries, three who were struck by the car and one who suffered lacerations, chief medical officer Dr. Andrew Thomas said. Those included one faculty member, two graduate students, one undergraduate and one staff member, Thomas said. The affiliation of the sixth was not known.
Two of the patients remained in fair condition Tuesday morning while the other four had been released from the hospital, medical center spokeswoman Eileen Scahill said Tuesday.
Two victims taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital had been struck by the car, Thomas said. Three individuals were treated at Grant Medical Center, two with lacerations and one with orthopedic injuries.