Tuesday, December 20, 2016

OSU Officer Alan Horujko is an Ohioan Hero!



Hero OSU Officer Alan Horujko Kills Suspect, Nine Injured, Ohio State University Incident Update
By Cowgirl On November 28, 2016




Hero OSU Officer Alan Horujko Kills Suspected Terrorist

Columbus, OH – One suspect is dead and nine people have been injured in an active shooter incident that occurred at Ohio State University this morning.  According to police sources, the suspect was shot and is now deceased.  It has also been reported that the scene is now secure, and the lockdown and shelter in place instructions were lifted at about 11:30 a.m..  The Columbus (Ohio) Fire Department reported that nine people had been transported to local hospitals, with one person listed in critical condition, and the other nine people listed in stable condition.

According to various news sources,the suspect, Abdul Razak Ali  Artan, age 18, came into the United States as a Somali refugee, and was granted status as a legal permanent resident.  He was an OSU student, and police and a bomb squad are currently searching his West Side apartment. There were also initial reports that there was a second suspect but those reports have now been determined to be false.  The suspect, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, is believed to have acted alone.  The attack was reported to have been planned and coordinated.  Multiple news sources are also referring to the attack as a possible act of terrorism although the motive is still being investigated.

In a statement, Ohio State University said that the victims’  “injuries include stab wounds, injury by motor vehicle and other injuries that are being evaluated.”  Officials at OSU first tweeted an active shooter alert shortly before 10 a.m. this morning.    When that alert first went out, many students barricaded themselves in their classrooms.

One unidentified witness posted on Reddit that “I was about ~50 ft away from what happened. A fire alarm went off in our building and everyone went into a nearby courtyard. I think the fire alarm was legit, but I can’t be positive. Ambulance, cops, and firefighters were already there/were about to leave. A really beat up car drove into the crowd that was gathered in the courtyard. Our initial reaction was to run towards the scene because we assumed it was just a tragic mistake. It took the guy time to get out of the car, but he ran from his car swinging wildly with a really odd looking knife. He was yelling like mad. I booked it out of there and spent an hour and a half in lockdown in a geography professor’s office.”  A second, apparently different but also unidentified witness also posted on Reddit that he thought he heard three shots after the man with the knife got out of the car.  It is unclear at this time what the suspect yelled.

One witness, Kendrick Price, an academic adviser at OSU, told ABC News he ran to his second-story office window after hearing screams and that he saw a person running toward police who was then shot multiple times.

According to news sources, a student, Jacob Bowers, said he saw a man with a knife “chasing people around trying to attack them.”  He also said that “luckily there were so many people he couldn’t focus on one target.  I didn’t see anyone get stabbed but I saw the police officer take down the stabber. He saved lives today.”  That hero police officer’s name has not yet been released.

Many people reported hearing gunfire during the incident but it is believed that this gunfire was from police shooting at the suspect.  Ohio State University Police Chief Craig Stone said that a car intentionally rammed into a crowd of people standing outside of Watts Hall at OSU about 9:40 a.m.  Watts Hall is the Chemical Engineering building at Ohio State University.

According to Monica Moll, OSU Public Safety Director, Ohio State University Police Officer Alan Horujko was already near Watts Hall when the suspect drove his vehicle into a crowd of people. She said that OSU Officer Horujko “engaged the suspect, who was attacking people with a butcher knife, and shot and killed him within minutes.”  She also said that “the threat ended when the officer shot the suspect, and that “injuries were minimized due to the rapid reaction of campus police.”  Officer Horujko has been employed as an Ohio State University Police Officer since January, 2015.  He was uninjured.

According to Ohio State University, OSU Police and local law enforcement continue to respond to the campus due to the ongoing investigation.  OSU held a news conference a short time ago and said that information would be shared through Buckeye Alert (Twitter) and emergency.osu.edu. Ohio State University administration said that “our top priority remains the safety and security of our campus community. Our thoughts and prayers are with those injured and their families.”

Once the scene was secured, an official statement was made by Ohio State University that all classes were cancelled for today.  Ohio Governor John Kasich tweeted this morning that “Ohio’s thoughts and prayers go out to the Ohio State community. Be safe, listen to first responders.” Governor Kasich postponed an event scheduled for today in Dublin, Ohio, due to the shooting.

According to the United States Department of Homeland Security, the definition of an active shooter is “an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearms(s) [sic] and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.”  The phrase is used in law enforcement training and is not weapon-specific.

We are grateful to all law enforcement officers who responded, and especially to hero Ohio State University Officer Alan Horujko, who was observed by  witnesses taking the suspect down.  Thank you Officer Horujko for your courage, bravery and unwavering dedication in this situation.  Our thoughts and prayers remain with those who are injured and all at Ohio State University.

Should there be some type of vetting process for refugees from other countries who come to the United States?

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