Students and parents hidden on a bowling track and a load elevator after hearing shots outside the building
Two people died and six were injured in a shooting at the University of Florida and the already detained gunman is a university student, according to the university police chief Jason Tumbower.
According to the US Associated Press news agency, the two dead are not university students, but authorities say the shooter is a 20-year-old student, the son of a local sheriff department delegate.
According to the authorities, the shooter used the dad’s service weapon that was found at the shooting site.
At least five people are being treated at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and the shooter is also receiving medical care.
United States President Donald Trump said from the oval room that he had been informed about the shooting, stating that it is a “penalty” that has happened but will not defend any new weapon legislation.
“The gun doesn’t shoot, people shoot,” Trump added.
In response to journalists in the Oval Room, Trump said he is a “great defender” of the second amendment and the right of gun possession.
“I have an obligation to protect the second amendment,” he added, stressing that it is “horrible that things like this happen.”
The university’s warning system announced about three hours after the shooting that police forces had “neutralized the threat.”
Authorities asked students and teachers to avoid the association of students and other areas still considered as places of crime.
Students and parents hidden on a bowling track and a load elevator inside the student association after hearing shots outside the building.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a social media publication that the Justice Department is in contact with FBI agents on site.
“Our priority is the safety of all involved,” wrote Bondi at X.
Also in a social media publication, FBI director Kash Patel said he and his team were informed about the shooting and that FBI’s FBI field agents were at school.
“We will give all the necessary support to local police forces,” Patel said.
Students and teachers were instructed to look for shelter and wait for new instructions.
The University of Florida is one of the 12 public universities in Florida, with its main campus located in Tallahassee, where the shooting occurred, just minutes from the state capitol building.
About 44,300 students are enrolled at the university, according to the school’s informative sheet for 2024.
In 2014, the university’s main library was the scene of a shooting that injured three people, with agents shooting and killing the shooter, Myron May, 31.
