As the threat of a Active Shooter sent Florida State University The campus in the blockade of Thursday afternoon, panic and confusion extended far beyond school lands, especially for students who are in place and parents desperately try to reach them.
Ava Arenado, a FSU student who was in class when the university alert came out, described a terrifying scene that quickly developed around him.
“One of my classmates received an alert on his phone and announced it to the rest of the class,” Arenado told CBS News Miami. “My teacher began to sweep the door … and then another student said he would prefer to go home, so we all ran to our cars.”
Arenado said he made the decision of the fraction of a second to flee, believing that the threat was far enough from his location to reach his car and return to his apartment. But just when he ran, the fear for Thers weighed heavy.
“He just didn’t feel real,” he said. “I was really scared by [a classmate’s] Security and mine too. “
She said she had a friend near the student union, the area where the police responded to the initial report around 12:01 pm, who claimed to have heard shots before the law of the law arrived. But beyond that, most students were in the dark about what was happening.
“Nobody has really seen or heard a lot,” Arenado said. “Everyone is really confused … as specials with social networks. It is really difficult to understand what is real and what does not.”
The confusion extended to the families that observe from a distance.
How a mother of FSU students learned about the shooting
Vivian, the mother of two FSU students, said her daughter was the one who first called her for the alert.
“I’m still trembling, just although my children are fine,” he told CBS News Miami. “I was very nervous … I immediately thought or my son and asked my daughter to approach him to make sure it was fine.”
Vivian’s two children were in their apartments outside the campus in time close enough to listen to sirens and shock, but far enough to avoid direct danger. Even so, she said the uncertainty was a winter.
“We are waiting for everything clear,” he said. “They have friends who are still in hidden classrooms.”
Vivian, like many parents, joined the chats in line with other families trying to order the facts of fiction. “There is a lot of wrong information,” he said, referring to photos and rumors or multiple shooters. “So I’m not sure what to believe.”
A family fear for a father and son of southern Florida
For Fort Lauderdale resident John MancusoThe wait to hear that his son was safe brought painful memories. His son Domenic, now FSU first year student, was taking refuge in a campus gym when the shooting occurred.
It wasn’t the first time I had endured that moment. As a sixth grade student, Domenic protected in his place the duration of the massive shooting of 2018 in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“This is just a connection, a special connection that I and my father always had,” Dianic said, remembering how his first instinct was to call his father.
John, who was alerted to the situation at the university, said: “There are as many scenarios that went through my head, but as soon as I heard it on the phone, I knew we were going well.”
Two dead, several hospitalized and a suspect in custody
Two people died and six were injured, said the police in Tallahassee. The authorities confirmed that a suspect is in custody after receiving a shot in an exchange of shooting with the police.
Police said the gunman believed he was a 20 -year -old FSU student. He has been identified as the son of an attached sheriff of Leon County.
The Department of Application of the Law of Florida, together with the FBI and other agencies, responded to the incident. The classes and events on the campus were canceled for the rest of the week.
As the community expected answers, the emotions of the closest to the crisis remain raw.
“I’ve had many exercises,” Arenado said. “But however the school is … I really was afraid that this would be something serious.”