Two murders and seven people, including the suspect, were injured in FSU shooting
A suspect was detained after Thursday’s student body at Florida State University was killed and six were injured, law enforcement officials said in a news conference.
The suspect was identified as Phoenix, a 20-year-old FSU student and the son of a school resource representative for the Leon County Sheriff’s Department, and has also been hospitalized. Lawrence E. Revell, head of the Tallahassee Police Department, said he was shot dead by police “failed to comply with the order”.
Revell said the victims of the two deceased were not students, but he was unable to share any other information about the victim’s identity.
FSU President Richard McCullough called it “a miserable day at Florida State.”
“We are working hard to support victims, families and everyone affected,” he said.
FSU students and staff received emergency notifications at 12:02 p.m. due to active shooters nearby the campus student union. According to Revell, FSU campus police arrived at the scene “almost immediately” after the shooting began at noon. Other local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI’s Jacksonville Field Office and its Tallahassee Office, were also involved in the response to the shooting. Tallahassee police will lead the investigation.
More than three hours later, police notified campuses that they were “neutralizing threats” but asked the public to continue to avoid student unions and surrounding areas. Students are advised to stay indoors except walking to the dormitory or designated as a unified point.
Revell said the pistol ikner used his mother’s former service weapon. Revell said the suspect also shotgun with him, but it is not clear whether he had used it. Revell said police had not yet known the motive for the shooting, and Ikner cited his right to not talk to police.
During the press conference, McCullough said he had just returned from a victim who visited the hospital.
“At present, our priority is the safety and well-being of all people on our campus,” he said.
McKenzie Heeter, a FSU junior, told NBC that the attacker left the student union with lunch before noon with the attacker she believed was a rifle, but he missed it. He then returned to the car, retrieved a pistol and shot another person, at which point Hurt began to escape from the student union and return to her apartment.
“It’s just me, like the other three, that noticed at the beginning, but we were walking in the opposite direction of the league, so we started running. I just told everyone I could see, away from campus.”
Another group of about 40 people locked themselves in the bowling alley in the student union basement, avoiding shooters Tallahassee Democrats Report.
FSU classes were canceled until Friday and sports events were cancelled before the weekend ended.
