By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
TALLAHASSEE, USA (Worthy News) – The 20-year-old son of a current sheriff’s deputy killed two people and wounded four others at the Florida State University (FSU) campus Thursday before he was shot and taken into custody, authorities confirmed.
The shooting at the university in Florida’s capital, Tallahassee, Thursday unfolded after the young man had access to one of his mother’s weapons, explained Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil.
Besides those killed, at least six people were receiving treatment at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, a hospital spokesperson said.
“FSU informed students that the threat to the campus has been neutralized,” but the surrounding area is still considered “an active crime scene,” police said.
One FSU student who saw the shooter called him a “normal college dude” dressed in an orange T-shirt and khaki shorts. “I was walking, and this guy pulled up in an orange Hummer. And he gets out with a rifle and shoots in my direction.”
The shooting started about 11:50 a.m. local time, witnesses recalled. Police soon shot the gunman before taking him into custody, announced FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower.
The confrontation came too late for the two killed persons, who Trumbower added “were not students.” It is believed the gunman was a student as he apparently knew the area well.
GUNSHOTS REPORTED
Gunshots were initially reported at the student union building on the FSU campus in the state capital of Tallahassee.
Students and faculty were told to shelter in place as police responded. Officials said that more than 42,000 students attend classes at the main campus.
Student Max Jenkins described the shooter leaving the student union building and firing four or five shots outside. “He saw the maintenance guy who was waving everybody, and I guess he heard him probably. He turned and shot that way,” Jenkins said in a video on the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper website. “There’s a golf cart over here with a bullet hole in it.”
U.S. President Donald J. Trump said he had been “fully briefed” about the situation and called it “horrible that this is taking place.” He spoke while hosting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Thursday’s incident was the second shooting on the FSU campus in 11 years. In 2014, a graduate opened fire early at the school’s main library, wounding two students and an employee as hundreds were studying for exams.
When shots started ringing out, Chris Pento was touring the university with his children and eating lunch at the student union building.
“It was surreal; people started running. She just got trampled over,” Pento told local TV station WCTV, referring to his daughter.
BROADER DEBATE
The attack added to a debate about the many arms readily available in the United States.
At FSU, three firearms were found Thursday- one on the suspect, one in a nearby car, and a shotgun in the student union, law enforcement said.
It was the latest in a series of attacks hitting colleges or universities in recent years, including the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre in Blacksburg, Virginia, where 32 people were killed and 23 injured.
In 2023, there were two college mass shootings, one at Michigan State University, where three students were killed and at least five others injured.
The other incident unfolded at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where three faculty members were killed before a suspect died in a shootout with the police.
Ironically, Thursday’s shooting happened on the day of the “United Against Hate” event that honors 21-year-old Maura Binkley, a senior at FSU who was one of two victims killed on November 2, 2018, in the Tallahassee hot yoga studio shooting.
Binkley and 61-year-old Dr. Nancy Van Vessem died after a gunman with a long history of abusive behavior and hatred against women opened fire in the hot yoga studio, according to investigators.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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