An Ohio State University student attacked eleven people, running into them with his car and then slashing pedestrians with a butcher knife until he was finally shot dead by police at the scene Nov. 28. OSU officials issued an active shooter warning throughout campus.

The Black & White interviewed former headline editor, Jay Silver (‘16), a freshman at OSU, as he offered a firsthand account of the shooting. Some quotes have been edited for clarity.

The Black &White: Where were you when you heard about the shooting?

Jay Silver: I was in one of the group study rooms on the ground level of the Fisher College of Business, OSU’s business school, working by myself. Then, an older man, who evidently was doing rounds notifying people in the school, told me to leave the room and get down to the basement of the school because there was an active shooter.

B&W: What did it feel like to be in that situation?

JS: It was definitely startling. The words “active shooter” can freak anyone out, no matter if you’re in the area or just following through social media. However, two developments put me more and more at ease as time passed.

First, as more and more accurate information traveled through the local news and even social media, it became readily apparent that the “shooter” wasn’t a shooter at all and actually a lone wolf operative using a car and a knife.

Second, I was down in this basement with what was at first about 150 people—and even though the situation may have seemed scary, being together with others brought us together in a sense, especially when this “active shooter” situation still seemed like nothing short of a crisis.

B&W: How would you characterize this situation in terms of other incidents on college campus or just in general?

JS: Obviously, it wasn’t like the aftermath of 9/11, but actually being in a situation where lives, yours included, are at risk, puts things in perspective. But, it should be noted that while I was close—about two blocks up and one across—from the scene, I never really felt unsafe throughout my time in the basement.

B&W: What do you think this means for OSU now?

JS: OSU is definitely on edge, more than normal, but at the same time, it feels like everything has already gone back to normal. Attacks like these can happen at any time though, so that’s something to consider.