WASHINGTON - A gunman opened fire at a major university in Florida early Thursday, leaving three people injured, before officers killed the shooter, police said. The latest episode of America’s epidemic of gun violence, happened just after midnight at Florida State University in the state capital Tallahassee.
A gunman opened fire outside a library, and when challenged by campus police to put down his weapon, he declined and was shot dead, Tallahassee Police Department spokesman David Northway told reporters. He declined to say if the victims had been shot or to say if they were students, saying only they were being treated in a local hospital. Northway said the investigation remains underway as to the motive of the shooting. With midterm exams coming up next week ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, the library was open 24 hours a day and students were inside at the time of the shooting.
Students at the huge university with a student body of more than 40,000 told US media that as many as four shots were fired, although they said it was inside the library, not outside.
One of the students who was at the library, Blair Stokes, described the early moments of the drama. She said she was on the first floor of the library and “this guy comes up and says someone has a gun,” she told CNN.
Stokes said police quickly swarmed the building after shots were fired. The university had quickly put out an alert warning of a “dangerous situation” on campus.