Authorities: Ohio State University Attacker Was Somali Refugee
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UPDATE: Authorities say a man who attacked people at Ohio State University today was a student at the school. The school's public safety director identifies the suspect as Abdul Razak Ali Artan. Authorities say Artan was shot to death by a police officer shortly after he drove up onto a curb into pedestrians, got out of the car and began stabbing people with a butcher knife. A U.S. official says Artan was born in Somalia and living in the United States as a legal permanent resident. Nine people were injured, including one critically.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Police said they killed one suspect during an active shooter situation and lockdown at Ohio State University on Monday morning. Officials are reporting the scene is now secure, but all classes on the Columbus campus have been canceled.
CBS television affiliate WBNS confirmed that law enforcement shot and killed a young man who deliberately rammed students with a car and then jumped out to stab them on Monday morning. Students were advised to shelter in place for almost two hours.
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Ohio officials said it appears this is possibly an act of terrorism, and the FBI and ATF have been sent in to help investigate.
A federal law enforcement official tells CBS News that the man shot and killed in the incide has been tentatively identified as a young man of Somali descent. He is believed to be around 20 years old.
The event set off a campus-wide lockdown and a mass active shooter alert. The alert 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.
Officials with the Columbus Fire Department later said nine people were transported to the hospital – one of them in critical condition. At least four of the other victims are said to have gunshot wounds.
Officials at Wexner Medical Center, on campus, confirmed that they are treating four people at their facility and all of them had non-life threatening injuries.
The situation began about 8:30 a.m. CST after a red-colored SUV crashed into the chemical engineering building on campus. After ramming students, the suspect got out of the vehicle and began stabbing people with what officials described as a butcher knife.
Firefighters were the first to respond to the scene after receiving reports of a car into a building.
There are some 60,000 students enrolled at the OSU Columbus campus.
Ohio State's student newspaper, The Lantern, tweeted that at least one body bag was in front of Koffolt Labs.
Speaking about training or preparations for professors or staff OSU Professor Joseph Goodman said during a phone interview, "Actually last week… many of my colleges were in a active training course on what do you do in that situation. This wasn't even something we had five years ago."
In addition to campus police and Columbus, Ohio local law enforcement, the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are both assisting.
* This is a developing story. Refreshing this page for the latest updates.
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