Safety officials at Ohio State University say they believe only one person carried out today's attack near the university’s chemical engineering building.
OSU police chief Craig Stone describes the timeline of events.
“About 9:52 a.m., a male suspect drove a vehicle over the curb west 19th, west of College Avenue and struck pedestrians. He exited the vehicle and used a butcher knife to start cutting pedestrians. Our officer was on scene in less than a minute, and he ended the scene in less than a minute. He engaged the suspect, and he eliminated the threat. The suspect on the scene is DOA.”
Nine people were injured in the attack. Andrew Thomas is the chief medical officer at OSU Medical Center.
“Here at Ohio State we received five wounded individuals from the scene, two with stab wounds and two with wounds related to being hit by the car, and we just received a fifth victim who was actually hiding in place and her injuries are still being assessed. There were two individuals with lacerations taken to Grant Hospital downtown. I’m told that both of those individuals are doing well. As well, two motor vehicle accident victims were taken to Riverside, and I’m told similarly those individuals are doing well.”
OSU and Columbus police officials say they believe rumors of a second suspect were false, but stressed they are still piecing together details as the investigation continues. OSU President Michael Drake commended the job of safety officials.
“Obviously a tragic situation and something we prepare for every year. Our students, our faculty, our staff are all trained because we’ve seen things like this happen around the country. I did want to say that we are so grateful that our police were on the ground and able to neutralize the situation, that the injuries were not more severe than they were. I’ll be able to go and visit those who were injured later on this afternoon.”
Ohio State officials encouraged the university community to get in touch with their loved ones to let them know they’re okay. Ohio State canceled classes for the day, but Drake says he expects classes to resume Tuesday. The university says law enforcement will continue to have a visible presence on campus. The university will also continue to share information through Buckeye Alert and the website emergency.osu.edu.
