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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.

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.

The Lantern Article wrote: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.

The Lantern Article wrote:Witnesses said Kalash had been walking up and down the street exhibiting "bizarre" behavior before the stabbing occurred.

HKUSP45C wrote:Also, why didn't anyone inform the local constabulary that

The Lantern Article wrote: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 wrote: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.

apostate wrote: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.

Fulton said Kalash also has a history of violent offenses .

HKUSP45C wrote:

apostate wrote: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.

"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.