On Monday morning, there was a tragic lone wolf attack on the campus of Ohio State University where 11 people were taken to the hospital. The attacker, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, drove into a crowd of students and then got out and attempted to kill innocent people with a butcher knife. Thankfully, in only a mere minutes after the first 911 call, OSU Police Officer Alan Horujko engaged, then shot and killed Artan before he could injure more people or kill someone. All of the 11 people hospitalized in the attack are expected to survive and they may have the quick actions of Officer Horujko to thank.
Ohio Governor John Kasich called Horujko’s actions an “unbelievable, outstanding, amazing, heroic performance.”
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Officer Horujko went “racing and running right into the heart of the danger. We had a dynamic, well-trained professional today save the lives of many of our residents and students.”
Officer Horujko, a Cincinnati native, graduated from Ohio State University with a major in security and intelligence in 2012. He joined The Ohio State University police department in January of 2015.
“I just couldn’t see myself sitting in a cubicle,” Horujko said of his decision to leave engineering and become a police officer.
“By working (at Student Safety Services) and seeing what the police do, and what Student Safety does on the campus, the kind of behind-the-scenes stuff really led me to a law enforcement career,” the 28-year-old officer said.
Officer Horujko was featured in a “Surviving an Active Shooter” training video made by the Ohio State campus administration just over a year ago. In the video, Horujko and his fellow officers can be seen confronting a violent, armed man and helping students safely escape danger.
Thank you for your service and bravery Officer Horujko.
[IJR]