FSU president Richard McCullough: 'It's a tragic day for Florida State'

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FSU president Richard McCullough speaks at a Thursday briefing.
Bob Ferrante

An armed, 20-year-old man opened fire at the Florida State student union on Thursday at lunchtime, killing two people and injuring six others before he was apprehended in a massive response by law enforcement.

The victims are being treated for gunshot wounds at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Details on the victims have not been released by the Tallahassee Police Department, which is leading the investigation.

“It’s a tragic day for Florida State University,” president Richard McCullough said. “We’re absolutely heartbroken by the violence that occurred on our campus today.”

The alleged shooter is the son of a longtime Leon County Sherrif deputy. He was questioned but invoked his rights for a lawyer, TPD chief Lawrence Revell said.

“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons,” LCSO Sheriff Walt McNeil said. “And that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene.”

Revell said the shooter is believed to be an FSU student. The shooter was told to surrender his weapon, did not do so and was shot, Revell said.

A tragic afternoon began at the newly constructed FSU student union at a busy lunch hour. At 12:02 p.m., the @FSUAlert account on Twitter/X began posting updates of an active shooter and instructed students, faculty and employees to “seek shelter and await further instructions.”

Many people stayed inside classrooms for the next three hours, with @FSUAlert saying the shooter was “neutralized” at 3:18 p.m.

McCullough and representatives from TPD and LCSO each shared their appreciation for the considerable response from local law enforcement agencies. He and his wife, Jai Vartikar, visited victims at TMH in the afternoon before the late afternoon press conference.

“The First Lady and I met some of our students who were victims,” McCullough said. “Our hearts go out to our students who are victims of this terrible tragedy.”

Revell said TPD is leading the investigation into the shooting, examining multiple crime scenes over a “very large area” while talking to hundreds and potentially thousands of witnesses.

Counseling services are available for students, faculty and staff at (850) 644-2003. An FBI agent said anyone who has information, photos or videos can upload them to www.fbi.gov/fsushooting.

“This is a deeply emotional time, but we’re all here to support each other,” McCullough said. “We’re going to do everything we can to support our community. We’re a strong and united community. We’re family. We’ll get through this together.”

FSU canceled classes on Thursday and Friday. All FSU athletics events have been canceled through Sunday, including games and spring football practices.

This includes an FSU baseball series with Virginia, which was set to begin on Thursday night, as well as a softball series between FSU and Georgia Tech that was set to begin on Friday. There's no timetable for when the baseball or softball series could be made up.


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