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Ohio State Buckeyes celebrate a win over the Michigan State Spartans after a game at Spartan Stadium. Reuters

Ohio State University officials put out a campuswide alert Monday morning over reports of a school shooting. Authorities said at least eight people were injured and transported to area hospitals, with one in critical condition.

"We heard a lot of sirens. I was in class and everyone got a text message at the same time for the emergency alert," OSU senior Anthony Falzarano, 22, told CNN. "Someone said they heard popping right before we got the alert, but I didn't hear it. We are in a shelter-in-place right now in the building next door."

Columbus Police said one suspect had been killed. The identity of the shooter was unknown. School officials tweeted to students: "Buckeye Alert: Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. Watts Hall. 19th and College."

"Continue to shelter in place in north campus area. Follow directions of Police on scene," authorities tweeted.

Ohio State, with nearly 60,000 students enrolled at its main Columbus campus, is one of the nation’s largest universities. As various reports on Monday's chaotic situation continued to pour in, social media users were attempting to piece together the still-volatile situation.

"The first thing I heard were screams," student Cydney Ireland told ABC News. "Probably five seconds after that there were three gunshots and it sounded like a handgun. And I've never seen anything like it. Everybody was running in any direction they possibly could."

Gun violence has been a central area of the nation's political dialogue. Most recently, two students were injured in a school shooting outside Linden-McKinley High School in Columbus on Oct. 13. In October 2015, a visibly disturbed President Barack Obama addressed the nation on school shootings.

"Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it ... We have become numb to this," Obama said.