Wrong place, wrong time

[Kythas]

This could be more ammo in favor of campus carry. While it didn't occur on campus, the girl was on her way to class.

http://tinyurl.com/qotwef

A female Ohio State student was trying to catch a bus to class Tuesday afternoon when she became the victim of a random stabbing.

Police say the 20-year-old student was walking down Stinchcomb Drive near Buckeye Village at 12:55 p.m. when she was stabbed by 34-year-old Wael W. Kalash. Witnesses said Kalash had been walking up and down the street exhibiting "bizarre" behavior before the stabbing occurred.

"There's no connection between the victim and him other than she was at the wrong place at the wrong time, it was a completely random act," said Det. Jay Fulton of the Columbus Division of Police homicide unit.

Witnesses said that Kalash, a resident of Stinchcomb Drive, walked up to the student and stabbed her once in the abdomen with a knife. The student described the weapon as a kitchen-type knife bigger than a steak knife but smaller than a bread knife.

While an ambulance took the student to Riverside Hospital to undergo surgery, officers saturated the area looking for the assailant. They soon found Kalash inside a nearby mosque at 535 Riverview Dr., where witnesses positively identified him as the assaulter. Kalash was arrested for felonious assault and is being held at Franklin County Jail on $750,000 bond.

Neighbors of Kalash said he has a history of "strange behavior," and Fulton said he may be mentally ill.

"He didn't make a lot of sense when we tried to talk to him," Fulton said. "He exhibited a lot of signs of some mental instability or some mental issues."

Fulton said Kalash also has a history of violent offenses.

Police executed a search warrant in Kalash's home and recovered two knives and the clothes they believe he was wearing during the stabbing. Lab tests have yet to confirm the weapon used in the stabbing.

The student, whose name is not being released by police, successfully underwent surgery and is being held under observation at Riverside Hospital.

[Kythas]

Note that the mosque the guy ran into is also linked to several other people who have committed or attempted to commit violent acts in the U.S., including the shooting of the two soldiers in Little Rock earlier this week.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Blotter/ ... 485&page=1

Exclusive: FBI Probes Muhammad's Ties to Ohio Mosque
FBI Wants to Know If Ohio Mosque Has Link to Terror
By RICHARD ESPOSITO, PIERRE THOMAS and JACK DATE

SHARE Nuradin Abdi was convicted in 2007 of planning to blow up an Ohio shopping mall.

A suspect is in custody amid reports of homegrown terrorism. Iyman Faris was convicted in 2003 of planning to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge.

Christopher Paul was convicted in 2008 of conspiring to use explosives against targets in the U.S. and Europe.

All three terrorists worshiped and socialized at a small mosque in Columbus, Ohio, and, according to David B. Smith, an attorney for Faris, were part of a larger group of jihadists and extremists who frequented the mosque.

The FBI now is investigating reports of links to that same mosque by Muslim-convert Abdulhakim Muhammad who allegedly shot and killed one soldier Monday and critically wounded another in a drive-by attack on a Little Rock, Ark., recruiting station, ABC News has learned.

Recruiter Shooting Suspect Under FBI Investigation

According to law enforcement sources, they have received reports that Muhammad appears to have attended the mosque during a period from 2006 to 2007 when evidence indicates he resided in Columbus. It is unclear what, if any, links he had to the individuals already convicted.

However, his possible links to the mosque are one promising avenue under investigation as the government attempts to reconstruct Muhammad's path to radicalization and to establish firmly whether he acted alone in the recruiting station shooting.


The mosque, according to well informed sources, is a small house of worship that has regularly been frequented by foreigners with radical sympathies who, after their stops in Ohio, continued onward. The Imam of the mosque was not immediately available for comment.

Columbus has been identified as the jumping off point for Somalis residing in the United States, including Somali Americans, to become radicalized and then head overseas to wage jihad.

Muhammad most recently had come to the attention of law enforcement authorities following his arrest in Yemen last year while carrying a forged Somali passport.

Muhammad, 24, was the subject of a preliminary investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force and may have also been the subject of a prior investigation by authorities in Columbus, Ohio.

[HKUSP45C]

While it would have been nice if she had been armed, it wouldn't have been legal with or without "Campus Carry"

Police say the 20-year-old student was walking down Stinchcomb Drive near Buckeye Village at 12:55 p.m. when she was stabbed by 34-year-old Wael W. Kalash.

Which is why I'm a proponent of lowering the age for concealed carry to 18 if you're willing to jump through the hoops to get the plastic. We give guns to 17 and 18 year old soldiers, why do we hate the rest of our children so much? I'd even be amenable to requiring additional training for those between 18 and 21 like a defensive driving class for handguns.

ETA:
Also, why didn't anyone inform the local constabulary that

Witnesses said Kalash had been walking up and down the street exhibiting "bizarre" behavior before the stabbing occurred.

I'm all about minding your own business but, if witnessES saw this, someone maybe could have phoned the local non-emergency number for the cops and requested a cruiser to come by and "see what's up" with the wacky character exhibiting "bizarre" behavior on a downtown street in the mioddle of the afternoon. Heck, I'd feel awful, personally, if I hadn't done so and this happened shortly after I had the opportunity.

[apostate]

Also, why didn't anyone inform the local constabulary that

Witnesses said Kalash had been walking up and down the street exhibiting "bizarre" behavior before the stabbing occurred.

I'm all about minding your own business but, if witnessES saw this, someone maybe could have phoned the local non-emergency number for the cops and requested a cruiser to come by and "see what's up" with the wacky character exhibiting "bizarre" behavior on a downtown street in the mioddle of the afternoon. Heck, I'd feel awful, personally, if I hadn't done so and this happened shortly after I had the opportunity.

In many cities it's not unusual to see people behaving oddly. Perhaps several different times/places/people in one day in a city like Houston.

[stevie_d_64]

Interesting connection between the mosque and these crimes going on up there...

And you'd never hear about it unless you caught it here...

[HKUSP45C]

In many cities it's not unusual to see people behaving oddly. Perhaps several different times/places/people in one day in a city like Houston.

I live in Houston, if I see someone who is behaving in a "bizarre" manner, I'm gonna give a ring to HPD on their non-emergency number and request they send a squad car to "check it out." If they choose not to do so then, my work is done. I've alerted the local constabulary to a potential "situation" and I've gone about my day.

Again, I'd feel somewhat responsible for the attack had I seen "bizarre" behavior and done nothing.

I didn't suggest shooting the guy, or tackling him, or confronting him yourself. Just a friendly chat with an HPD admin to see if they had a car in the area with the time and inclination to stop and talk to the man who is behaving in a "bizarre" manner on the street at 1:00 in the afternoon.

[Lodge2004]

In many cities it's not unusual to see people behaving oddly. Perhaps several different times/places/people in one day in a city like Houston.

A short visit to the court house is downtown Houston is all it takes to see people exhibiting strange behavior. The ones who hang around outside are stranger than those you encounter inside.

[Kawabuggy]

I live in Houston and experienced one of those people displaying odd behavior today. My B-I-L was coming to my house with his family in the car to pick up their OTHER car that I had worked on today. I was waiting for them to get to my house and when they pulled in my driveway, I watched a guy do a U-turn in front of my house, and then he started to drive away. After traveling a short distance, he stopped & got out of the vehicle and started walking towards my B-I-L and his family. I immediately headed out front to see what was going on.

The guy starts walking towards my house, I tell him-stay right there and I'll come out to you.. I pass my B-I-L on the way out to meet this guy. The guy is dressed like he is homeless, and I could smell him even before I was within 15 feet of him. I stop short of him and ask him what he wants. He says he's selling steaks. I tell him I'm not interested and he needs to get in his truck and leave immediately. He is covered in what look like blood blisters all over his arms and legs. I can see them from the distance I have stopped at. He starts mumbling something that I can't make out. He turns and starts to walk away, but then circles back towards me again. He is not speaking, just walking straight towards me. I tell him "buddy, you better get in your truck and leave now as my wife has already called the cops (bluff). He turns around gets in his truck and drives off. After he is gone, by B-I-L tells me that the guy followed him quite a distance to my house.

This is one city that has more than it's fair share of dirt-bags, weirdos, crack-heads, and straight up losers..

[bryang]

Fulton said Kalash also has a history of violent offenses .

What was mohamed doing out on the street anyway???

-geo

[nils]

I am getting my masters at U of H, and it's like running thru a gauntlet at night....thugs, and scumbags everywhere...carrying on campus would probably ease me, and my 31 classmates as we walk collectively to the parking lot at 9:30pm....one gun is better than no gun.

[pedalman]

Nothing unmanly at all about carrying OC. I always have my ASP Street Defender with me. It makes a fine key flail, or a kubotan.

It also gives me a non-lethal option at my disposal. That is, unless I'm outside and a breeze is blowing toward me.

[heliguy972]

Odd people are everywhere. I was with my boss today at the Marriott Plano Legacy Center Dallas for a meeting. He went into the bathroom and saw a really strange looking guy in there talking to himself. Boss said it really made him nervous. Turned right around and came back asking if I was carrying (I was). We waited till we saw him leave. Street punk, really out of place at that venue.

[NcongruNt]

In many cities it's not unusual to see people behaving oddly. Perhaps several different times/places/people in one day in a city like Houston.

I live in Houston, if I see someone who is behaving in a "bizarre" manner, I'm gonna give a ring to HPD on their non-emergency number and request they send a squad car to "check it out." If they choose not to do so then, my work is done. I've alerted the local constabulary to a potential "situation" and I've gone about my day.

Again, I'd feel somewhat responsible for the attack had I seen "bizarre" behavior and done nothing.

I didn't suggest shooting the guy, or tackling him, or confronting him yourself. Just a friendly chat with an HPD admin to see if they had a car in the area with the time and inclination to stop and talk to the man who is behaving in a "bizarre" manner on the street at 1:00 in the afternoon.

Actually, you should be calling 911 for a report of a suspicious person. I called 311 the first time I did it, and was told by the operator that a suspicious person call is a 911 call.

[bryang]

"NcongruNt"
Actually, you should be calling 911 for a report of a suspicious person. I called 311 the first time I did it, and was told by the operator that a suspicious person call is a 911 call.

Thanks for the information.

I was not aware that you could use 911 to report a suspicious person.

-geo