The authorities in Tallahassee, Fla., on Thursday were investigating an overnight shooting on the campus of Florida State University that left three wounded and the gunman dead.
At a news conference early Thursday, the police said that they were trying to piece together the circumstances that led to the shooting at Strozier Library, in the heart of the university campus.
The identity of the gunman has not been released, and the police said that the families of the injured were being notified. A Tallahassee Police Department spokesman said all three of the injured were being treated for gunshot wounds.
Florida State’s president, John Thrasher, said in a statement that there was no further threat to people on the campus. He said the three shooting victims were students, but the Tallahassee police later said that one of the victims was a bystander.
According to the early morning police briefing, the incident began shortly after midnight Thursday, when a gunman approached Strozier Library where students were gathered to study, and opened fire. Students inside the library fled or took cover.
The police responded to the shooting at about 12:30 a.m., while also urging students and faculty to shelter.
David Northway, a spokesman for the Tallahassee Police Department, the department leading the investigation, said that when confronted near the entrance of the library, the gunman fired at university police officers, who fired back and killed him.
Hours after the shooting, according to The Associated Press, detectives were still inspecting the body of the suspected gunman, who was lying face down at the top of an access ramp just outside the library. A gray baseball cap lay near his head.
Shortly after 4 a.m., the campus was given an “all clear” announcement. Hundreds of students who had taken refuge near the library were allowed to return to their homes, according to media reports.
At the news conference, the police said that they did not have a motive for the shooting.
The university said through its official Twitter account that it would remain open on Thursday, but that it would not hold classes.
Reached by phone shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday, an overnight nursing supervisor at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said people with gunshot wounds had been admitted to the facility and were being treated, although it was not immediately clear whether they had been shot on campus.
Schools and universities around the country have taken steps to prepare for such emergencies, including creating campus-wide alert systems like the one activated Thursday by Florida State.
Students were left shaken by the events that unfurled overnight in the tight-knit college town. The motive of the shooter remains unclear.
Reo Morris, 24, a second-year graduate student from Clearwater, Fla., received the advisory on his phone. He said in a phone interview that he was in touch with friends at Strozier Library who were under lockdown as the police searched for the gunman.
Toni Haywood, a junior, told ABC News that she was on the second floor of Strozier Library at about 12:30 a.m. when she heard gunshots. Minutes later, people on the first floor ran upstairs, telling others to hide, she said.
“The police came on the intercom and said that there was a gunman in the lobby, and I think he said two people had been shot,” Ms. Haywood told ABC News. “He said to stay away from doors and windows and to stay where we were. We all waited, then the police came back on and said the gunman was in custody and to stay where we were.”
Mr. Morris said he frequently worked late at the library.
“I have no clue what could have possibly happened to make someone do that,” he said.
The university, one of the largest in Florida, has about 40,000 students enrolled in 16 colleges spread across Tallahassee, the state capital. The university has recently drawn criticism after reports that athletes on its football team, a contender for this year’s national collegiate championship, had received preferential treatment from the police in criminal matters.
Source: MSN
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