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Students Speak Of Chaos, Fear On Campus In Midst Of Violence At Ohio State

One suspect is dead and nine victims have been taken to hospitals as a result of an incident at Ohio State University earlier today.

Ohio State student Martin Schneider says he was in the courtyard outside the Watts Engineering building on the OSU campus shortly before 9 a.m. when he noticed a silver car. 

“I saw the car go through and it hit a couple of people," he said, and that ge didn’t know what to think at first.  “At the time, I didn’t think it was intentional but then the suspect in the car came out with a knife, swinging at a student. I don’t think he actually really stabbed him though," Schneider said.  "After that, I started trying to run away until I looked back and noticed that the suspect with the knife wasn’t at the scene anymore so I went back to maybe help any injured students who were there. There were a couple of injuries but I fled shortly thereafter because I heard gunshots.”

Schneider says in hindsight, that was likely the sound of police shooting the 18 year old suspect dead. The university ordered students to take precautionary measures during the confusion as the incident was unfolding. That’s what was happening in a student services building a couple of blocks away where Isaac Kim, a student at nearby Capital University, was taking a test to get his teacher’s license. He said he only had three questions to go when everyone in his classroom were forced to evacuate as authorities searched a parking garage adjacent to his building.

“It’s like one of those things, like, where you hear about this on the news and in the movies and stuff like that. It’s crazy. And you never think it would happen to you,” Kim said.

Kim said the timing of this incident is ironic when you think about the presentation he was making later at Capital later in the day. “My subject is school shootings so I might have to change up my material a little bit and speak antecdotally. I don’t know,” Kim admitted.

Ohio State University cancelled classes for the rest of the day. The campus was reopened not long after the scene was cleared, and classes are scheduled as usual for the rest of the week.

((Update: A total of 11 people were eventually taken to hospitals as a result of the incident. The numbers presented at the top of this story were accurate at the time the story was filed.)

Contact Jo Ingles at jingles@statehousenews.org.