Police officer who stopped Ohio State attack honored by President Trump

Today, President Donald Trump honored a Fairfield native who stopped a terrorist attack at Ohio State University in 2016, with the Medal of Valor.

EARLIER STORY FROM OCT. 2017: Alan Horujko, the police officer who stopped the attack on the Ohio State University's campus last year, will be recognized today at the 2017 Distinguished Law Enforcement Achievement Awards.

An award will be bestowed upon Horujko, originally of Fairfield, and members of the Ohio State University Police Division Ordinance Team by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.

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Those receiving awards will be honored for valor, lifetime achievement, group achievement, law enforcement service, community service, training, and civilian leadership, DeWine’s office said in a statement.

Horujko shot and killed 18-year-old Abdul Razak Ali Artan, an OSU student who drove his car on Nov. 28 into a group of pedestrians on the Columbus campus. Horujko has been hailed a hero after firing the shot that killed the man wielding a butcher’s knife.

Eleven people were transported to nearby hospitals — none of the injuries were life-threatening — and police, university, national and local officials have said if Horujko hadn’t acted, the number of victims would have been higher.

MORE: Fairfield grad who shot OSU attacker a ‘stand-up guy’

Horujko joined the Ohio State University Police Department in January 2015 and was responding to an unrelated call when the car ran into a crowd of people. Horujko ordered Artan to drop the knife and shot after he didn’t comply, according to reports.

Also feted during today’s ceremony are a host of local southwest Ohio, statewide, and federal agencies, including:

• Butler Township Police Department

• Clermont County Sheriff’s Office

• Drug Enforcement Administration

• Homeland Security Investigations

• Internal Revenue Service

• Miami Township Police Department

• Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office

• Montgomery County RANGE Task Force

• Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office

• Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation

• Ohio National Guard

• Ohio State Highway Patrol

• Ross Township Police Department

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Homeland Security

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