Police: Man stabs 4 in Ohio building, is shot

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

A man armed with three knives went on a stabbing spree in a downtown office building Wednesday, starting in the admissions office of a technical school and injuring four people, including an employee of the state attorney general, authorities said.

The rampage stopped when he was shot by a police officer on the street in front of the building just blocks from the state Capitol.

The man confronted one victim in the admissions office of Miami-Jacobs Career College before 1 p.m. and stabbed him, Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said. Other people intervened and took away a knife the man was using but didn’t realize he had others, Weiner said.

“We do know that one of the good Samaritans that came to aid the first victim, he was stabbed also,” Weiner said.

Four men, including the attacker, were in critical condition after the stabbing spree, authorities said, and a fifth man had minor injuries.

Police have identified the victims and the attacker but haven’t released their names, Weiner said.

Two of the victims were either students or staff members at the privately run school, Weiner said. Two other victims were outside in the lobby area when they were attacked, he said. All the stabbings occurred on the first floor.

One of the victims is employed by the state’s attorney general, who has offices in the 25-story building, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Mike DeWine said. DeWine’s office isn’t in there, and he wasn’t present at the time, spokeswoman Lisa Hackley said.

She said she couldn’t provide further details about the victim at the family’s request.

DeWine thanked the more than 500 attorney general employees who work in the building for their calm response.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all who have been affected by this senseless violence,” DeWine said in a written statement.

A knife was recovered inside the school, and two knives were found near the attacker outside after he had been shot.

Police would not describe the knives except to say they were bigger than pocket knives.

One officer used a stun gun on the attacker at around the time another officer shot him, Weiner said. Officials don’t know whether the stabbing was random or stemmed from an earlier issue, he said.

The attacker had a knife in each hand when he went at officers, said Jim Gilbert, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police.

Multiple shots were fired at the man by the officer who was closest to him, Gilbert said. The officer, who has been on the police force for 15 years, “did what she had to do,” Gilbert said.