Meet the Heroic Campus Cop Who Saved Countless Lives During OSU Attack

A “lone wolf” attack at Ohio State University was quickly contained thanks to the actions of Officer Alan Horujko.

On Monday morning, Abdul Razak Ali Artan purposely plowed his car into a large group of students then exited the vehicle and began indiscriminately stabbing at them with a butcher knife. Less than a minute after the attack began, Artan was confronted by Horujko and told to drop his weapon. When the suspect failed to comply, Horujko shot and killed him.

Horujko’s heroic act has been praised by many in the hours since. John Kasich, Ohio Governor and former presidential candidate, called the officer’s actions an “unbelievable, outstanding, amazing, heroic performance.”

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther echoed Kasich’s sentiments, saying the Cincinnati native 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.”

Horujko is an alum of Ohio State University, having graduated in 2012. He joined the OSU police department three years later.

On his decision to join the university force, Horujko said, “I just couldn’t see myself sitting in a cubicle. 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.”

In a bit of irony, Horujko actually appeared in a department-produced video that attempted to educate students on how to escape an active shooter situation.

While the attack did send eleven people to the hospital, all are expected to survive. Without Officer Horujko’s actions, things undoubtedly could have been much, much worse.