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Alan Horujko, hero of Ohio State University attack, remains humble despite honors

Posted at 12:03 AM, Jun 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-22 07:28:43-04

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Despite widespread and effusive praise for his intervention in the Ohio State University attack of Nov. 28, 2016, campus Officer Alan Horujko has avoided the spotlight since he shot and killed attacker Abdul Razak Ali Artan.

He remained humble Wednesday as Ohio's state congress passed a resolution to recognize him for the "heroic actions," "humanitarian concern" and "selfless initiative" he displayed that morning.

"I'm just glad it turned out as well as it did," Horujko said. 

Artan, 18, had rammed a car into a group of students on the Columbus campus. He then exited the vehicle and began to stab bystanders. Horujko, who had been responding to reports of a nearby gas leak, stopped Artan before the attack could become deadly.

"I just wanted to say thank you for your heroic actions," State Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Franklin County) said Wednesday. "My daughter is a freshman -- well, sophomore -- at Ohio State and was supposed to be in that very intersection that very time."

Horujko, smiling, thanked his police trainer and the supportive people in his life for the honor as well as the the training that equipped him to earn it.

"We like to say, ‘You don't rise to the situation; you settle into your training,' and that's exactly what happened that day," he said.

Resolution recognizing Officer Alan Horujko for intervention in Ohio State University attack by WCPO Web Team on Scribd