TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (NEXSTAR/WFLA) – At least two people have died and six people are hospitalized after a gunman, who is now in custody, opened fire at Florida State University Thursday, according to police.
The two people who died were not students at the university, but the shooter is believed to be a 20-year-old student and the son of a local sheriff’s deputy, according to Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil.
The suspected shooter allegedly used his mother’s former service weapon in the shooting.
“We will continue that investigation into how that weapon was used,” McNeil said, adding that the shooting suspect was a long-standing member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office Youth Advisory Council.
“He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have,” McNeil said. “So it’s not a surprise to us he had access to weapons.”
Police said the shooter was also carrying a shotgun, but it wasn’t immediately clear if it had been fired before he was taken into custody.
The six victims are now being treated at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, and the shooter is also receiving medical attention.
Police responded to reports of an active shooter in the school’s student union around 12 p.m. ET. People on the campus and in the immediate area were told to shelter in place, and lock and stay away from all windows and doors, according to an alert issued by FSU on X.
By 1 p.m., law enforcement was said to be “actively clearing rooms on the main campus,” according to the FSU emergency alert system.
VIDEO: Police respond to active shooter at Florida State University
People comfort each other on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee, where law enforcement responded to a reported active shooter incident Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Kate Payne)
Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school’s campus in Tallahassee, Fla., Thursday, April 17, 2025 (AP Photo/Kate Payne)
Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school’s campus in Tallahassee, Fla., Thursday, April 17, 2025 (AP Photo/Kate Payne)
Hundreds of students streamed away from the direction of the student union. Students were glued to their phones, some visibly emotional, while others hugged each other. Dozens gathered near the music school waiting for news.
Ryan Cedergren, a 21-year-old communications student, said he and about 30 others hid in the bowling alley in the lower level of the student union after seeing students running from a nearby bar.
“In that moment, it was survival,” he said.
After about 15 minutes, university police escorted the students out of the building and he saw a person getting emergency treatment on the lawn, he said.
Chris Pento told WCTV in Tallahassee that he and his twins were getting lunch at the student union during a campus tour when they heard gunshots.
“It was surreal. And people just started running,” he told the TV station.
They packed into a service elevator after encountering locked doors at the end of a hallway. “That was probably the scariest point because we didn’t know. It could get worse, right?” he said. “The doors opened and two officers were there, guns drawn.”
Florida State’s alert system announced about three hours after the shooting that law enforcement had “neutralized the threat.” Officials asked students and faculty to avoid the student union and other areas still considered an active crime scene.
President Donald Trump opened his Oval Office meeting with the Italian prime minister on Thursday with comments on the shooting at Florida State University, saying that he had been “fully briefed.”
“It’s a horrible thing,” he added. “It’s horrible that things like this take place.”
Students flee from active shooter at Florida State University
“Our prayers are with our FSU family,” Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on X.
Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school’s campus in Tallahassee, Fla., Thursday, April 17, 2025 (AP Photo/Kate Payne)
Florida State University is one of Florida’s 12 public universities, with its main campus in Tallahassee. About 44,000 students are enrolled in the university, per the school’s 2024 fact sheet.
In 2014, the main library was the site of a shooting that wounded three people. Officers shot and killed the gunman, 31-year-old Myron May.
The university canceled all classes and events for Thursday. It also canceled home athletic events through Sunday.
This is a developing story. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
