Twelve people, including six children, were injured in a shooting near Florida A&M University's Bragg Memorial Stadium during the university's homecoming weekend. The Tallahassee Police Department said the shooting occurred just before 8 p.m. on Saturday near the intersection of Perry and Manatee streets, adjacent to the stadium where Florida A&M's Rattlers had hosted the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions in a football game.
According to Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell, eleven of the twelve victims sustained gunshot wounds. One victim was in critical condition, three others were seriously injured, and eight were in stable condition. The youngest victim was 11 years old, and six of the injured were minors overall. A twelfth victim—the grandmother of one of the injured—was hurt while fleeing the scene.
Police said preliminary investigation indicated that a physical altercation occurred between individuals before the shooting erupted. Revell characterized the incident as "isolated" and believed to involve only "two or three individuals." At the time of the police chief's late-night press conference on Sunday morning, no arrests had been made and no suspect was in custody, though investigators believed a single shooter was responsible.
Revell praised the response of first responders, saying officers ran "into the middle of this, still not knowing where the shooters were, still not knowing how many victims we had." He noted that "we had officers that were picking up victims and carrying them in their arms to transport victims because they couldn't get through the mass of people." Revell appealed to witnesses to come forward and stated that authorities' priority was "to determine what happened and why it happened, and to bring the people that are responsible for this to justice."
Florida A&M University issued a statement on social media saying the incident occurred "near campus" but that the campus itself remained safe. The university asked members of its community to avoid the area to allow law enforcement to conduct its investigation. Florida State University, located about a mile away, issued an emergency alert and advised its students, faculty, and staff in the Tallahassee area to remain indoors as a precaution, though it said the violence did not appear to involve anyone from its school community.
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey expressed his condolences to those affected. "This is a truly horrific and heartbreaking tragedy," he posted on social media. "Tonight and in the days ahead, the FAMU family is not alone. Our entire community stands with you." The Tallahassee Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit continued investigating and asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact authorities.
