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Law enforcement officials say a Somali-born Ohio State University student drove a car into pedestrians on the campus Monday and then attacked them with a knife, injuring 11 people before a campus police officer fatally shot him, CNN reports.

Ohio State Police Chief Craig Stone said Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, drove a car over a curb and struck several people. He then got out the vehicle and continued his attack with a butcher knife. Officer Alan Horujko arrived at the scene shortly and shot Artan dead when the assailant refused to drop his weapon.

According to NBC News, Artan posted a rant on Facebook, saying he reached a “boiling point,” referenced “lone wolf attacks,” and cited extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. NBC said it was posted shortly before he went on the rampage.

CBS News reported that Artan arrived in the United States in 2014 with six family members. They had fled Somalia and lived seven years in a refugee camp in Pakistan.

He transferred this year to OSU from Columbus State Community College. In August, Artan complained in an interview with the campus newspaper, The Lantern, about negative portrayals of Muslims in media reports, according to CBS.

Artan told The Lantern that he was afraid of what someone might do to him if he’s seen praying openly.

Artan posted this Facebook message, via NBC:

“America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially Muslim Ummah [community]. We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that.”

Still, authorities are not ready to call this a terrorist attack. CNN said law enforcement officials are searching Artan’s social media footprint before drawing that conclusion.

SOURCE: CNN, NBC News, CBS News

 

Investigators Search For Motive In Ohio State University Campus Attack  was originally published on newsone.com

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