Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a student at the university, injured 11 people with his car and a butcher knife on Monday.
In the Aug. 25 issue of The Lantern, the campus newspaper, Artan described feeling out of place at the university as a Muslim student.
"I just transferred from Columbus State. We had prayer rooms, like actual rooms where we could go pray because we Muslims have to pray five times a day," said Artan, who was identified as a third-year student studying logistics management.
"I mean, I’m new here," he continued. "This is my first day. This place is huge, and I don’t even know where to pray.
“I wanted to pray in the open, but I was scared with everything going on in the media. I’m a Muslim, it’s not what the media portrays me to be. If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don’t know what they’re going to think, what’s going to happen. But, I don’t blame them. It’s the media that put that picture in their heads so they’re just going to have it and it, it’s going to make them feel uncomfortable. I was kind of scared right now. But I just did it. I relied on God. I went over to the corner and just prayed.”
On Monday, Artan drove onto campus and plowed into a group of pedestrians, authorities said. He then got out of the car and began stabbing at people with a butcher knife, police said.
Surveillance footage captured Artan as he was driving on campus, and police said he was alone in the car. Based on that, they believe he was the only threat to the university on Monday, police said.
John Minchillo / AP
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