UPDATE: To the surprise of well, no one, Abdul Artan’s attack at Ohio State University today was, in fact, motivated by religion.
Artan was born in Somalia and living in the United States as a legal permanent resident. Investigators discovered a message he posted on a Facebook page before the attack in which he expressed anger about the treatment of Muslims around the world, according to reports from multiple news outlets, citing unidentified law enforcement officials.
Artan was enrolled at Columbus State Community College from the fall semester of 2014 through the summer semester of 2016, according to college spokesman Allen Kraus.
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The now-dead suspect in the Ohio State rampage is a Somali refugee named Abdul Artan. The 18-year-old OSU student had come to America under Obama in 2014 per NBC News. He’s a legal resident of the United States, though not a citizen. Officials have made it clear that the attack had been planned in advance deliberate in nature. It certainly seems reasonable to assume there’s a Muslim terror angle to the attack, especially as the Buckeye rampage shares similar characteristics to terror attacks in Israel of late.
Palestinian attacks against Israelis
The attacks carried out by Palestinians against Israelis often appear to be spontaneous and opportunistic. Many are undertaken by young, unmarried Palestinians. The most common weapon used is a kitchen knife. The second most common is the family car.
Reports by witnesses now seem to indicate that a group of students had assembled outside an Ohio State building in response to a fire alarm. The suspect then plowed his SUV car into the group, exited the vehicle, and began knifing bystanders. Of course, with Ohio State adamantly standing by it’s “gun-free” campus policy prohibiting legally licensed students, faculty and staff from carrying firearms, there initially was no good guy with a gun to stop the rampaging attack.
A police officer rolled up a minute or so later and told the individual, “Drop it a and get down or I’ll shoot.” The attacker failed to heed the commands and was shot dead (see above photo), ending the rapage.
1 Suspect Dead, 10 in Hospital After Ohio State Car-and-Knife Attack
Ten people were taken to hospitals and one suspect was dead after a chaotic car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University on Monday morning, officials said.
The incident was initially reported as an “active shooter” situation, but the suspect did not shoot anyone. Instead, he crashed their car into a crowd and attacked victims with a knife, witnesses and law enforcement officials told NBC News.
A police officer was on the scene within a minute and shot the suspect dead. His name was not released, but law enforcement officials told NBC News he was an Ohio State student, a Somali refugee who was a legal resident of the United States.
The motive was unknown, but officials said the attack was clearly deliberate and may have been planned in advance.