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Police: Shooter at Florida State Campus Killed, 3 Others Injured

FSU SHOOTING 11/20/14
Posted at 12:45 AM, Nov 20, 2014
and last updated 2014-12-30 09:41:01-05

11 pm Update: There are no additional updates at this time.

8 pm Update: One other victim was taken to the hospital.                      

AT this time, his family has requested the hospital not release any additional information right now, and asks the media and community to continue to respect their privacy.                                       

6 pm Update: One of the victims in the Florida State Shooting has been identified as Nathan Scott. 

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital says that he is in good condition. TMH says that he was shot in the leg and currently recovering in the hospital with the support of his family.

4 pm Update: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Police say they have a journal and videos that indicate a gunman who shot three students at Florida State University's library believed the government had targeted him.

Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo said Thursday that Myron May was armed with a .380 semi-automatic handgun and reloaded at least once. DeLeo said May tried to get past security barriers before he was fatally shot by officers.

DeLeo said May and officers exchanged more than 30 shots.

    

May graduated from Florida State and then the law school at Texas Tech. He had been working as a lawyer in Texas and New Mexico before recently returning to Florida.

12 pm UPDATE: (AP) -- A law enforcement official says the gunman who shot three people at Florida State University before being killed by police was a lawyer who graduated from the school.

The official told The Associated Press that the shooter was Myron May, who graduated from Florida State before attending Texas Tech University's law school. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the name.

May was fatally shot early Thursday after he shot three people at the Florida State library. Two are hospitalized and one has been released.

Abigail Taunton told the AP that May had recently been staying at a guest house she owns in a rural area in the Florida Panhandle. She said police interviewed her husband, David, after the shooting.

8 am UPDATE: (AP) - Classes are canceled after a gunman opened fire early Thursday at a library on Florida State University's campus, wounding three students and sending others to hide among bookshelves and block doors with desks before police shot and killed him.

The shooting happened as hundreds of students were studying for exams. It prompted a campus alert that urged students to take shelter and stay away from doors and windows.

Police and FSU officials called the shooting an "isolated incident."

Tallahassee and Florida State University police confronted the gunman just outside the library in the middle of the campus and ordered him to drop his handgun. But a Tallahassee Police spokesman says the man fired at shot at officers and they fired back.

Students who had been in the library described a chaotic scene.

7am UPDATE: Witnesses say the alleged gunman was shot 20-30 times by police. 

Police have now cleared the students, one-by-one from inside the library. They were then taken to another building to be interview by authorities.

The library is now secure and open so that students can retrieve their left behind items

6 am UPDATE: University officials have said that the family of all three victims have been notified.

Police say that one of the three victims has already been released from the hospital.

Five officers that were involved in this incident have been put on administrative leave, which is standard procedure.

5 am UPDATE:  Florida State Campus will remain open Thursday, but all scheduled classes for the day have been cancelled,  including exams scheduled to be held at the Testing Center on Thursday.

From Florida State University:

University employees are to report today as scheduled.

Strozier Library will be closed until further notice. Students will be permitted to retrieve their belongings from the library with the assistance of law enforcement.

Counseling services are available to students and employees through the university Counseling Center and the Victim Advocate program.

4 am UPDATE:  (AP) — Officers shot and killed a suspected gunman after a shooting at Florida State University early Thursday that wounded three others and prompted an alert for students to take shelter, police said.

The shooting happened at a library on campus and officers opened fire after the suspect shot at them, Tallahassee Police spokesman Dave Northway said.

It was not immediately known if the wounded were shot by the suspected gunman.

Northway said authorities did not believe there were any other threats related to the incident. The lockdown was later lifted and the school said on its verified Twitter account that the area was secure.

Strozier Library, a multistory building at the center of the Tallahassee campus, was roped off with police tape.

John Ehab, a sophomore from Tampa, said he was on the library's third floor when he heard multiple gunshots.

"Everyone heard them," he said. People took cover in the book aisles to hide from the gunman in case he came onto the floor, Ehab said.

Freshman Nikolai Hernandez said he was in his dorm room across from the library when he heard five or six rapid gunshots.

"It was a consecutive bop, bop, bop, bop, bop," Hernandez said. "It makes me definitely a little bit nervous. I was supposed to be in the library. I had a paper to do and I got a little bit lazy and decided not to do it."

He said he has friends still locked inside the library two hours after the shooting.

A campus telephone alert urged people to take shelter in a nearby building and stay away from doors and windows. Campus and Tallahassee police declined comment.

Florida State President John Thrasher, who took office earlier this month, said by phone that he is in New York City and had no first-hand information. He said he was making arrangements to hurry back to Tallahassee.

3:10 UPDATE: Police have said that there were three victims in this incident that have been taken to local hospitals. Police will not say if all of the victims were injured by gun fire.

Initial reports show that the shooter was shot and killed after he fired a shot at a campus officer, said Officer Dave Northway with the Tallahassee Police Department.

Florida State Police have asked Tallahassee Police to take over the criminal investigation of this shooting,

Deputy Chief Jim Russell with FSUPD is asking any students who may have witnessed something to call the police.

Police will have another update at 6 a.m.

UPDATE:

ABC News has confirmed two people were shot on campus and are being treated at Tallahassee Memorial Health Care. The patients' conditions are not known, and it's unclear whether those injured are students.

Our reporter on the scene talked with students who were inside the library at the time, and they reported hearing multiple gunshots fired.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) -- Florida State University has issued an alert about a dangerous situation on campus.

The alert says: "A dangerous situation is occurring on the Main Campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee. Seek shelter immediately in nearest building, away from doors and windows. Go to www.alerts.fsu.edu for more information and updates, or by calling (850) 644-4636."

We have a crew headed to the scene. Stay tuned to WTXL ABC 27 and wtxl.tv for the latest updates.