The Ohio State attacker gave this chilling interview just months ago
The young man identified by officials as responsible for Monday's attack at Ohio State, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, had spoken with school's student newspaper three months ago as he was adjusting to life on campus.
The interview, part of The Lantern's "Humans of Ohio State" section, was originally published in the Aug. 25, 2016 issue. In the piece, Artan talks about his Muslim faith, being new at Ohio State and how he felt Muslims were portrayed.
Noting the interview took place on his first day on campus, Artan seemed overwhelmed, comparing the campus to his previous school, Columbus State (where he reportedly graduated Cum Laude in May 2016), by saying, "This place is huge and I don't even know where to pray."
He also expressed concern about finding a space to pray and how he would be perceived by other members of the campus community:
I wanted to pray in the open, but I was kind of scared with everything going on in the media. I'm a Muslim, it's not what the media portrays me to be. If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don't know what they're going to think, what's going to happen. But, I don't blame them them. It's the media that put that picture in their heads so they're just going to have it and it, it's going to make them feel uncomfortable.
He finished the piece by stating how he still went through with his prayer in a public place, saying, "But I just did it. I relied on God."
On Monday afternoon, after officials confirmed his name at a press conference, The Lantern shared the photo of Artan from their interview with him.
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Authorities say Artan was shot to death by a police officer Monday morning shortly after he drove up onto a curb into pedestrians, got out of the car and began stabbing people with a butcher knife.
Officials identified the university police officer who responded to the attack and shot and killed Artan as 28-year-old Alan Horujko.
No motive in the attack has been confirmed by authorities.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
