School Shooting: Gunman Brings Pain and Fear to Florida State University

By VICTORIA ALVAREZ

Copy Editor

On Thursday morning at 12:30 a.m., terror struck the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee, FL when a gunman, now identified as FSU grad, Myron May, began actively shooting students in the Strozier Library. Leaving 3 wounded and the gunman deceased; this is one of the worst moments in FSU history.

“After I heard about the shooting at FSU, I immediately called my friends that attend the university. I was scared that some of them would have been in the library during the shooting, or maybe even injured during the crisis. Luckily they are all safe but I’m still in shock that it all happened,” said freshman Jennifer Sousza.

The shooter entered the library, which was filled with about 300 students preparing for finals, and began shooting, sending students running for cover. According to reports in the HuffingtonPost, students began barricading themselves behind doors, chairs and bookcases while screaming that someone had a gun so that people would know to take cover.

“Last night my cousin was in the library during the shooting. There’s rarely a night where he’s not there,” said freshman Colleen O’Connell. “He told me that it was one of the scariest things he’s ever went through because he could hear the gun shots and he didn’t know what was happening. I’m just so thankful that he’s okay and safe.”

Of the three students that were injured, one was grazed by a bullet and was treated at the scene and then released. However, the other two students were admitted to the hospital for their injuries.

The only death of last night’s crisis was the death of the gunman. “Tallahassee and Florida State Police confronted the gunman just outside the library that sits in the middle of the campus and ordered him to drop his handgun, but he fired a shot at them and they unleashed a volley of shots,” said Dave Northway, Tallahassee Police spokesman, to the HuffingtonPost.

Right now, police and FSU officials are calling the shooting an “isolated incident,” and they have identified the gunman as Myron May, a graduate from FSU and current lawyer. According to the HuffingtonPost, records show that May was licensed to practice law in New Mexico and Texas. Abigail Taunton, a woman who runs a foster home in the Florida Panhandle, told the Associated Press that May had recently been staying at a guesthouse she owns. She told AP that she had known him since he was about 14 and that that he is a close friend of the family.

Surprised by his actions, Taunton said, “My heart’s broken. In a million years I wouldn’t have thought he’d do something like this. He was struggling, having decided that what he was doing out there was not good. He had some issues and just decided he’d come home. He was struggling, like we all do, financially and otherwise.”

At this moment in time, May’s reasons for his actions are unclear. Investigations are still underway.

Lately in the U.S., mass shootings have been becoming more and more common.

In the past few years the U.S has experienced a lot of loss when it comes to mass shootings. From the Aurora, Colorado movie theatre shooting in July 2012, which left 12 killed and 58 wounded, to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012 which killed 27, both children and adults, shootings in America are spreading across the nation.

With the FSU shooting now adding onto the horrific list, many people are left wondering, when will it all stop?