Nine people were injured — one critically — after a suspect purposely drove a vehicle onto a sidewalk and into pedestrians at Ohio State University Monday morning. The suspect then got out of the car and stabbed people with a butcher knife before he was shot to death by a police officer, according to officials.
The suspect in the attack has now been identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali born legal permanent resident and OSU student.
WATCH: Michael Drake, the president of Ohio State University, as well as the school’s director of public safety, provided a timeline of the stabbing attack
Just before 10 a.m., OSU Emergency Management & Fire Prevention issued an alert for the students and faculty to take shelter in place after a report of an “active shooter” on campus.
However, at an afternoon press conference, police said the incident involved a large knife and a vehicle just before 10 a.m. — not a gun.
“A male suspect drove a vehicle over the curb…struck pedestrians. He exited the vehicle and used a butcher knife to start cutting pedestrians,” OSU police Chief Craig Stone said. “Our officer was on scene in less than a minute and he ended the situation in less than a minute.
WATCH: Ohio state suspect identified as student Abdul Razak Ali Artan. Brook Silva-Braga has the latest.
“He engaged the suspect and he eliminated the threat,” Stone said.
Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs was asked at a news conference Monday afternoon whether authorities were considering the possibility that it was a terror attack.
Jacobs says, “I think we have to consider that it is.”
Photos and video shared on social media show multiple police units responding to the university including Homeland Security.
Governor of Ohio, John Kasich, said on Twitter, “Ohio’s thoughts and prayers go out to the Ohio State community. Be safe, listen to first responders.”
OSU President Michael Drake said there was confusion initially as to what was happening on campus.
“What I had heard at first was there was shots fired on campus and therefore the active shooter protocol was put in place,” Drake said. “Our first order of business then was to make the campus safe and secure and that happened within minutes.”
Earlier video footage showed heavily armed police escorting two men in handcuffs from what appeared to be a parking garage.
A witness in a chemical engineering building described to NBC News the “chaos” that unfolded early Monday.
“It’s not real, you go numb. It’s not supposed to happen,” Rachel Lemaster said. “It’s scary, it was really scary. We barricaded ourselves in our rooms like we were taught, turned off our lights and just hunkered down, but kept looking out the windows seeing what was going on.
“It was chaos, people running and by the time we really got a good look, the cops were already running, the cops were already under control and the shooting already happened,” the faculty member explained.
Lemaster told the news station she asked police if she could move her vehicle and police had informed her she couldn’t because there was a body outside of a loading dock.
“I guess I’m under the idea that it was one of shooters,” she said.
Just after 11 a.m., the university lifted its shelter in place warning, saying “the scene is now secure,” but warned of a heavy police presence. All classes at the Columbus campus were cancelled for the remainder of the day.
Those injured in the attack included an Ohio State faculty member, four graduate students and three undergrads.
OSU campus is located just outside Columbus’ downtown core with nearly 60,000 students on its main campus.
*With files from The Associated Press
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