Authorities identified the man accused of opening fire at Florida State University on Thursday as the son of a Leon County, Florida, Sheriff’s Department deputy.
At least two people were killed and six more were wounded in the shooting that took place just before noon ET. Leon County Sheriff Walter A. McNeil identified the shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name per company policy, as a 20-year-old male student at FSU, who is the son of a sheriff’s deputy who has been with the Leon County Sheriff’s Department for over 18 years.
“Her service to this community has been exceptional,” Sheriff McNeil said of the deputy. “Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons, and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene.”
The weapon found at the scene was not the firearm that the deputy was currently using on the force, but rather one that she had been issued previously by her department.
“A lot of times — many agencies, mine included — when we transition to a new handgun, the officers are allowed to purchase the handgun they used prior. … I believe that’s the case here,” Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence E. Revell said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
The 20-year-old suspect was also a “longstanding member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office Youth Advisory Council,” McNeil added. “So he has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have, so it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
The shooter was neutralized “immediately” by Florida State University Police, and he has been transported to a local hospital. Neither of the victims who were killed were Florida State students, and their identities have not yet been released, Interim FSU Police Chief Justin Maloy said at the press conference.
FSU President Richard McCullough called the first responders “absolute heroes.”
“The call went out, and immediately they responded to the scene and immediately neutralized the suspect and prevented this from being a bigger tragedy,” McCullough said.
Florida State canceled classes and all athletic events on campus for the rest of the week.
President Donald Trump addressed the shooting from the Oval Office during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, adding that he has been “fully briefed as to where we are right now.”
“It’s a shame. It’s a horrible thing, horrible that things like this take place,” Trump added. “And we’ll have more to say about it later.”
