Law-enforcement officials gather near Watts Hall and the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry building on North Campus on Nov. 28 2016. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State
Despite harboring extremist ideology, the perpetrator of the Ohio State car-and-knife attack on campus Nov. 28, 2016, was not directed by a terrorist organization, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday.
The FBI’s announcement comes on the one-year anniversary of the attack. Thirteen people were injured after Abdul Razak Ali Artan drove his car into a crowd of people, got out and pursued the bystanders, slashing at them with a butcher knife before a University Police officer shot and killed him.
The investigation, which the FBI said is now officially closed, found Artan acted alone without any direction from a terrorist organization. However, the bureau concluded Artan was influenced by Islamic State propaganda.
Prior to releasing its statement, the FBI met with victims to brief them on the findings.
The FBI said it doesn’t expect to release any additional updates on its investigation.
