A
gunman was fatally shot by police after opening fire in a library at
Florida State University early Thursday, sending hundreds of students
who'd been studying for final exams running for their lives and cowering
behind bookshelves. Three students were found suffering gunshot wounds
at the scene.
Police received a call
about an "armed subject" at the Strozier Library on the school's main
campus in Tallahassee at 12.30 a.m. ET. Officers confronted the gunman
and ordered him to drop his weapon, according to Tallahassee Police
spokesman Dave Northway. "The suspect did not comply with the commands
and shot at the officers," he added. "They returned fire and the suspect
was killed.”
During a press
conference at 6 a.m. ET, Police Chief Michael DeLeo described the
shooting as an “isolated incident with one person acting alone.” It was
unclear whether the gunman was a student.
One of the shooting
victims was listed in critical condition early Thursday, Tallahassee
Memorial Healthcare spokeswoman Stephanie Derzypolski said. Another was
in stable condition. Police said a third victim had received a "grazing
injury" and was treated at the scene.
"I called my mom and just told her I loved her ... My heart was going so fast"
Some shots were fired in the library while others occurred outside the building, according to police.
Chad Huling, a
21-year-old business student, told NBC News he witnessed the
confrontation between the gunman and police outside the library from a
second-floor window. “The gunman was stood right under us,” said Huling,
who attends Tallahassee Community College. “There were about four or
five cops there, with more arriving, and they all aimed their weapons at
him and shouted, ‘Get down!’ about six times. But he did not do
anything so they opened fire, I would say at least a dozen times. It was
very loud. The whole thing was over in about 10 seconds.”
Huling added: "I was
just thinking, ‘Is this for real?' I called my mom and just told her I
loved her. We thought there were two shooters at that point, that’s what
everyone was saying, so my heart was going so fast."
Student Blair Stokes
tweeted that she had spotted "cops with big guns running around
outside" the library. "I thought I was gonna die tonight," she added.
Steven
Dawson, 19, a freshman biology major told NBC News he was studying on
the third floor of the library around 12:30 a.m. ET when someone started
shouting about a gunman in the building. "Everyone just dropped
everything and started running," Dawson said.
After fleeing down a
fire escape, Dawson said he and several others made outside. About 20
seconds later he said he heard nine to 10 gunshots from about 100 feet
away near Strozier's entrance. "Everyone took off running," Dawson said.
"I’ve never seen more people screaming and running."
FSU Police Department
Chief David Perry said the library was “packed with students studying
for final exams” and estimated that there were 300 to 400 people in the
building. One group of students sought refuge behind rows of
bookshelves. “Everyone started running to one side of the library, then
to the back,” one 20-year-old communications student who asked not to be
identified told NBC News. “People were saying, ‘Gun! There’s a shooter!
Go! Go! Go!’" She said her group hid among bookcases for what she said
felt like 20 minutes. Once given the all-clear, the group was escorted
to a campus building next door where they stayed until 4 a.m.
International affairs
student Devon Ford told NBC News that he was on the second floor of the
library that he and three other people barricaded a stairwell with
tables and chairs after hearing that the shooter was downstairs. Police
later announced that the gunman was "in custody and no longer a threat,"
Ford added.
Earlier, students had
been warned to "seek shelter immediately, away from doors and windows"
as police responded to what they described as a "dangerous situation."
In
a statement, FSU president John Thrasher confirmed that the three
wounded victims were all students. He said that counseling services were
being made available to staff and students trying to “make sense of
what is a senseless incident" and praised police for an “extraordinary
job taking quick and decisive action to prevent further tragedy.”
Thrasher added: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loves ones of all those who have been affected.”
DeLeo said five officers
from two forces were involved in the shooting and have been placed on
administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident. He said
it was too early to confirm whether all five officers fired their
weapons.
Shamar Walters, Tricia Culligan, Christopher Nelson and Cassandra Vinograd of NBC News contributed to this report.
NBC News
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