Students at Florida State University returned to campus Monday morning, shaken after a shooter opened fire on their campus last Thursday, killing two and wounding six.
Shots erupted at the school’s student union just before noon, according to local police, requiring a university lockdown. Students stacked desks and chairs against classroom doors to barricade themselves until FSU police were able to safely escort them out. Video from the New York Post shows students with their hands up, walking single-file out of the building.
Sophomore Florida State student Camryn Givens told Annenberg Media she was in class next to the student union when the shooting began. She said she heard gunshots and sirens before the emergency alarm system was activated.
“All 60 of us were sitting there for about four hours until FSUPD came and got us out,” Givens said. “There were people in the room crying the whole time. It’s something you never think is going to happen to you. I was like, ‘Wow that really just happened, I could have died.’”
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell identified a 20-year-old FSU student as the alleged lone shooter during a press conference. The suspect’s stepmother is a Leon County sheriff’s deputy, and they say her former service weapon was used to carry out the attack. According to CNN, she is now facing legal consequences for her involvement, although exact charges have not been brought against her yet.
Authorities said three other weapons were recovered: a shotgun in the student union, a rifle and an additional handgun in the gunman’s car. Revell confirmed the suspect was shot by FSU police and taken to a local hospital for medical care. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Sophomore Tallahassee State College student Alejandro Fernandez said he tutored the suspect in Spanish before he transferred to FSU. He told Annenberg Media he thought the gunman “dressed weird” but otherwise “seemed like a pretty normal dude.”
“[The suspect] didn’t seem off. I would even nod at him if we were passing each other in the hallway. I never thought he would do something like this,” he said.
The deceased victims were identified as 45-year-old Tiru Chabba and 57-year-old Robert Morales, according to CBS. Chabba was an employee for the university’s food services company and was visiting FSU, while Morales worked in the school’s dining services department and was in a meeting when it all began.
In a press conference, hospital officials confirmed six were wounded and one has already been released. They are all expected to make full recoveries. Graduate student Madison Askins is one of the victims who remains in the hospital with a bullet lodged in her vertebrae.
Video surfaced on social media of Askins taking her first steps since she was shot. She told ABC “I released all the muscles in my body, closed my eyes, and held my breath.” She said the gunman approached her as he reloaded and calmly said, “Keep running.”
Florida State student Robbie Alhadeff told ABC that his 14-year-old sister was one of the victims in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida.
“A lot of the people I’m friends with are from Parkland and a lot of them go to FSU,” he said. “This is the second time it’s happened — and no one I know wants to go back to school.”
President Donald Trump was meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni when the shooting erupted, but he later spoke to CBS.
“These things are terrible. But the gun doesn’t do the shooting, the people do,” Trump said. “I ran on the Second Amendment, among many other things, and I will always protect the Second Amendment.”
FSU President Richard McCullough announced in a university alert that classes would resume Monday morning after being cancelled for the remainder of last week. However, after pushback from concerned students, he later announced that attendance for this final week of classes would not be mandatory.
This is not the first time a shooting has occurred on a college campus. Similar situations have occurred at Michigan State in 2023, the University of Virginia in 2022 and even at USC in 2012.
Students at USC reacted to the surge in school shootings in recent years. While many students felt uncomfortable speaking on the subject, freshman economics and data science major Ashray Gupta said he is worried about his safety on campus.
“I believe this is a growing concern,” Gupta said. “I think we should increase the security patrol around schools and just ensure there are enough security cameras.”
According to a research study in the publication “Violence and Gender,” additional security measures like metal detectors, surveillance cameras and armed officers have not been shown to reliably prevent these kinds of shootings.
Students and faculty held a vigil at Langford Green Park on FSU’s campus last Friday, according to Givens. Students continue leaving flowers and candles at the park in remembrance of the tragic event and its victims.