Miami (AFP) – At least six people were hurt, one of them critically, after a mass shooting at a Florida university on Thursday, hospital officials said. The campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee was locked down after gunfire erupted, with students ordered to shelter in place. Local media, citing a police spokesperson, reported one man was in custody. The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper said the spokesperson did not confirm the identity of the man, or comment on social media reports that there was more than one shooter.
Witnesses spoke of chaos as people began running through the sprawling campus when shots rang out in the area of the student union. “Everyone just started running out of the student union,” a witness named Wayne told local news station WCTV. “About a minute later, we heard about eight to 10 gunshots.” The eyewitness said he saw one man who appeared to have been shot in the midsection. “The whole entire thing was just surreal. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Everything was really quiet, than all chaotic.”
The university, a public institution with more than 40,000 students, warned all those on campus to take shelter. “An active shooter has been reported in the area of Student Union,” the university said on social media. “Police are on scene or on the way. Continue to seek shelter and await further instructions. Lock and stay away from all doors and windows and be prepared to take additional protective measures.”
A statement from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital said doctors were “actively receiving and caring for patients.” A spokesperson for the hospital told AFP: “We have six patients, one in critical condition, and the rest in serious condition,” confirming they were hurt in the shooting. Student Sam Swartz told the Tallahassee Democrat he had been in the basement of the student union when shooting started. “Everyone started freaking out,” Swartz said, adding he had heard around 10 shots. A group of eight people, who were working on a project, huddled in a hallway and barricaded themselves with trash cans and plywood. “I remember learning to do the best you can to make them take time because they don’t want to do anything that takes time, they’re just trying to get as many people,” Swartz said.
Footage on social media showed a stream of young adults walking through corridors with their hands in the air as they evacuated the building. Mass shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, where a constitutional right to bear arms trumps calls for stricter rules. Despite widespread public support for tighter control on firearms, including restricting the sale of high-capacity clips and limiting the availability of automatic weapons of war, an entrenched political establishment refuses to act. A tally by the non-profit Gun Violence Archive shows there have been at least 81 mass shootings — which it defines as four or more people shot — in the United States so far this year.
© 2024 AFP
