World News – A car rammed into a crowd at Ohio State University on Monday, and a knife-wielding attacker got out and cut people before being shot to death, authorities said. Nine people were reported injured.
The dead attacker was believed to be an Ohio State student — a Somali refugee who lived near campus, NBC News reported. It said he was a legal permanent resident of the U.S.
The attack on campus in Columbus had initially had been described as an active shooter on the loose. The school declared the situation under control after about an hour, but classes were suspended for the day. As of last year, the school had more than 65,000 students that were enrolled.
Ohio State police told reporters the attacker drove over a curb into pedestrians, got out and stabbed people with a butcher knife.
“To go over the curb and strike pedestrians and to get out and start striking them with a knife, that was on purpose,” campus Police Chief Craig Stone said. “Our officers were on the scene in less than a minute and he ended the situation less than a minute. He engaged the suspect and he eliminated the threat. The suspect is DOA.”
A witness told NBC4 Columbus that people evacuated Watts Hall after a fire alarm was pulled, “then a car came along and started hitting those who evacuated.”
Earlier reports said 10 people had been injured and two people had been arrested. Officials later said the attacker had acted alone.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation and asked to be updated on the investigation, the White House said.
Ohio State tweeted shortly before 10 a.m. that a shooter was on campus and people should “Run Hide Fight,” standard protocol for dealing with such situations. Run means try to escape. If that’s not possible people should hide and as a last resort fight the attacker.
About an hour later, the university said that the shelter-in-place advisory was lifted and the scene was secure.
The Columbus Fire Department said 10 people have been transported to the hospital, one in critical condition, the others stable.
Earlier, Columbus police said it was assisting campus police, and the FBI said it was also responding to the scene.
Gov. John Kasich tweeted that “Ohio’s thoughts and prayers go out to the Ohio State community.” He asked people involved to “be safe, listen to first responders.”
Berkeley Lovelace Jr., CNBC.com
