Officials say at least eight people were injured, one critically, and one suspect has been killed after he stormed the chemical engineering building with his car, then entered the building and began attacking people inside the building with a knife.
Ohio State University personnel sent out an announcement advising students to continue sheltering in place and wait for further instruction from police. That shelter in place order has since been lifted.
Buckeye Alert: Continue to shelter in place. Wait for Police officers directions. Please contact Police / 9-1-1 only if you have information
— OSU Emergency Mngmnt (@OSU_EMFP) November 28, 2016
The incident began around 9:30 a.m. this morning shortly after firefighters responded to a fire alarm that was pulled at Watts Hall, the materials science and engineering building. A short time after that incident, the emergency alert system for Ohio State University sent out an alert about an active shooter on campus.
Buckeye Alert: Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. Watts Hall. 19th and College.
— OSU Emergency Mngmnt (@OSU_EMFP) November 28, 2016
“Run, hide, fight” is standard protocol for active shooter situations. It means: Run, evacuate if possible; Hide, get silently out of view; or Fight, as a last resort, take action to disrupt or incapacitate the shooter if your life is in imminent danger. Upon receiving further updates from authorities, it appears that this attacker was armed with a butcher knife, not a gun as earlier reported.
Ohio State University Wexner Medical center is reporting that they are treating four patients for non life threatening injuries. Three other victims were taken to area hospitals in non-critical condition, and an eighth is in critical condition.
The FBI is on scene assisting local police in Columbus. Todd Lindgren, a spokesman for the FBI Field Office in Cincinnati, said Ohio State University police are the lead agency. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday it was sending agents from its Columbus division to the Ohio State campus, and Columbus police officers also said they were assisting the university police.
CBS news has identified the vehicle of the shooter as belonging to a 19 year old Somali man named Mohammed Ali.
U.S. intelligence officials warned of potential terrorist attacks on or around election day. Authorities identified threats as potentially being carried out by lone wolf attackers inspired by the Islamic State or Al Qaeda. The Islamic State issued a statement in September of 2014 calling for lone wolf attackers to target Americans and Canadians.
The statement calls for attackers to use motor vehicles in their attacks saying “If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him….”
Looking back on the past year, we’ve indeed seen an uptick in attacks carried out around the world via automobiles. Most notably the attack in Nice, France in July of this year, and the attack earlier the same month in Baghdad.
This is a developing situation. Please check back as we will continue to updating this post as we receive more details.
