As this article was being written in December 2016, news reports were coming in that a vehicle attack on a Christmas market in Berlin killed at least 12 people and injured more than 50 others. Less than a month before, the U.S. State Department had warned about such attacks in public places throughout Europe, saying that extremist groups including the Islamic State and Al Qaeda were focusing on such locales during the holiday season.
Indeed, both terrorist groups have called on followers to use trucks to attack crowds. On July 14, 2016, a truck plowed into Bastille Day vacationers in Nice, France, killing 86 people.
Lest American campuses think that they are immune, on Nov. 28, 2016, a car ramming attack and mass stabbing occurred at Ohio State University’s (OSU) Watts Hall. The attacker was shot and killed by the first responding OSU police officer, but not before 13 people were hospitalized for injuries — nine of them struck by the vehicle. Luckily, nobody was killed.
Read More: Preventing Vehicle Terror Attacks on Campus with Bollards