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Shooting at Florida State University. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 17, 2025 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:01:01]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're following breaking news right now out of Tallahassee, Florida, where law enforcement sources tell CNN that a suspect has been taken into custody after a reported shooting incident at Florida State University.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: CNN's Ryan Young is following these developments for us.

Ryan, what more are we learning about the situation there at this moment?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, guys, we continue to work our sources here to try to figure out exactly what's going on.

I can tell you, around 12:00, an alert went out from Florida State University telling students to shelter in place, that they had reports of an active shooter near the student union. And just in the last two minutes or so, we got an update from the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare that says they are receiving patients from that shooting scene as well.

We believe four patients have been sent that way so far. I have also been told by a law enforcement source that I have talked to that the shooter has also been taken into custody. We're trying to figure out exactly the extent of injuries and what's going on.

There is a massive police presence on that campus right now. Of course, Florida State one of the largest universities in the state of Florida. The area that you see there is normally bustling with students. If you look at social media, you see dozens of students running. There have been reports of several shots being heard.

We know the sheriff's department, the local police department, and the FBI all responding to that area to see exactly what's going on. We have not been told of what the disturbance and how it started just yet. We're hoping for more updates from officials. You do see the ambulances there and the first responders who've decided to go there.

I have actually talked to an officer on scene. They were trying to get students from that student union area to safety. Once again, we are told one suspect in custody and at least four others who have been taken to the hospital. So, we're trying to figure out the extent of these injuries, but you see the live pictures right there, the massive amount of police presence at one of Florida's largest universities.

And, of course, there's a lot of focus on exactly what happened in that student union area. As a person who attended that university, I can tell you that's usually the active, most active part of that campus. It's really the hub of that university.

So many students, especially around that noontime, will be in that area going to lunch or between classes as they hang out throughout the day. So you can understand the amount of pressure that's on law enforcement to figure out if there's any other people who are involved in this.

We do know, again, four injuries been taken to the hospital, active shooter in custody. Boris and Erica, we're still trying to develop all our resources to figure out exactly what's going on at this point.

HILL: Yes, absolutely.

We also want to bring in with us CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow, who's with us.

So, as Ryan was just laying out for us there and we see in these pictures this heavy police presence, we know of at least four people, according to Ryan's reporting, who have been brought in for medical attention.

A suspect is in custody. That being said, there is this shelter-in- place order. We know a number of people are sheltering in place just from our own reporting as well. How long will it be? What will it take, I guess what is that checklist, to know that there is no longer a threat on campus?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, listen, good afternoon.

This is a stark reminder that really just underscores the dynamic and unpredictable nature of these horrific events. As Ryan was saying, how active the school university is today and where the shooting location was around the student union is the nucleus of the school. It draws a lot of attention by students and visitors alike.

Just by example, just look at the school calendar, the event calendar. There are dozens of things scheduled right now that are ongoing at the school that are bringing people there. So, it's a very densely populated environment. And law enforcement knows that. That's why you see such a significant response by federal, local, and state officials to respond to this.

And that response is really focused on four key areas to prioritize how law enforcement is responding to these active shooter situations. First, they want to stop the active shooter in progress. The good thing here is, we know that we have at least one suspect in custody.

[13:05:09]

We don't know, though, if there are other threats that are out there. Police will quickly work to ascertain if this was a lone actor or if this is a more coordinated attack. The second key thing is rescue victims. We have heard that there were victims that were sent to the hospital. We don't know their condition.

But it is a priority of law enforcement that, after they address the primary threat of the active shooting, that they rescue the victims and provide medical assistance. And fourth is, they need to preserve the crime scene. You know, we don't know how large this is, but if this shooter was moving about buildings and throughout the campus, we may have multiple crime scenes that are in place.

And law enforcement needs to secure those for any items of evidentiary value. So there's a lot of things that are going on simultaneously with the law enforcement and medical response right now. But from what I have seen and what has been reported, the response and communications that come -- that is coming from law enforcement has been almost textbook, a rapid response.

They activated their active shooter protocols. Everyone knew their roles and responsibilities. I'm sure that the incident command structure that is typically established for these type of critical events is in place. And we should be hearing more from law enforcement shortly about the current status of the threat.

SANCHEZ: And we are hearing more from FSU, the university putting out a statement on social media just moments ago, saying: "Continue to shelter in place. Police have responded to an active shooter call at the student union."

They go on to say that all university classes and events scheduled for the day have been canceled.

We also have with us retired FBI special agent Rob D'Amico, who is following the news alongside us.

Rob, I wonder, when you consider what an active shooter at a student union looks like, because there have been so many shootings at institutions of higher learning over the last few years, a lot of these soft targets, as they're called, have been hardened up.

But I wonder what you imagine the security is like at a student union at a school the size of FSU?

ROB D'AMICO, FORMER FBI HOSTAGE RESCUE TEAM MEMBER: It's just so hard to secure.

I mean, it's students walking in. They have backpacks. They have things that you can hide a gun in that you're not going to be able to search everything. So, again, when you look at what you can secure, you can't secure everything. You can have really good procedures, which I think the last commenter talked about, is, they reacted well.

And the thing is, with universities, with their police departments, they go over these. They do tabletop exercises, and you can start telling now that they all understand the different roles and responsibilities that have to get brought in immediately to this. I think one of the big things is, we saw with the Chapel Hill shooting

that they did not get word out quick enough that someone was in custody. And you started having students actually jumping out of buildings.

So, hopefully, they tell them to stay in place because that helps the organization, getting witnesses and looking at locking things down, but doing it uniformly and how they do it, but at least telling students that someone is in custody, so they're not panicked in doing things that are actually more dangerous than sitting where they're at, because that happened.

And I think that was one of the after-action reports. And I know all these universities are talking to each other that have shootings, and when they do tabletop exercises, and when they review their policies, that they're getting input for the last ones that happened and the best actions that were taken.

HILL: We also want to go back to Ryan. I'm going to go back to you.

I understand you have some new information about what we're learning.

YOUNG: I do.

HILL: What more are you hearing at this...

YOUNG: And I want to say this, coming off that last commentator, which is basically, let's not forget FSU had three people shot back in 2014 at the library.

This is a university that's paid special attention to trying to deal with active shooters, so, just like you said, the massive response there. It is close to the capitol. I was talking to one of my friends who's on scene there at the student union, and he was actually the source telling me that he was following a blood trail, because there was some sort of blood trail that was leading away from the student union.

So they are still trying to assess this as we are talking right now, trying to figure out all the pieces and to make sure they have all the victims here. There's a lot of terrified students. Even in the phone call that I had, you could hear people in the background rushing by who were very upset, obviously trying to get away from the scene.

So when you add all the pieces together and you know that it's near the state capitol, it's a large university. It's dealt with a shooting back in 2014 before, you can see why, A, there was a massive response and, B, how they got the alerts out very quickly at a campus that's really the lifeblood of that city.

[13:10:00]

When you think about the presence of Florida State, how large it is and how many people who graduated from that university in that area, there's so many people who work for that university. This really put the entire city on pause when something like this happens. SANCHEZ: Important context there.

We actually have sound from a witness, a student who shared what they saw. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: How are you feeling right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, nervous. I'm scared for my friends and making sure I'm checking up on them. And I just hope everyone's OK and every -- this gets handled soon.

QUESTION: And you said you weren't on campus when the shooting happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I was parking my car, walking back. And as I was walking back, I see these group of girls crying, really upset, walking back from the student union, told me they heard gunshots, and they just ran and came back to their apartment, where I was walking to.

QUESTION: So what's going through your mind seeing that your school has had a shooting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, I just hope everyone's OK, and I hope that, like, we can just do better precautions so this doesn't happen again. And I just feel awful for the students on there having to go through these emotions right now, dealing with the -- like, dealing -- scared for their lives, honestly.

It's really scary.

QUESTION: And you said you had friends on campus at the time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, right now, they're still on campus. They're on lockdown right now.

QUESTION: And you have heard from them you're doing OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, texted them.

QUESTION: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just said they're scared. They're in lockdown and they just want to go home.

QUESTION: Is there anything else you want to add?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I just hope everyone's OK. Praying for the people that are injured. And I just hope we can do better in the future.

QUESTION: All right, thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. QUESTION: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So, again, that's a witness, a student at Florida State University, where we have learned that at least four people have been hurt.

And, apparently, there is a suspect in custody after a shooting at the student union at the university.

I want to ask Jonathan Wackrow.

It's interesting, Jonathan, that we have learned that there is a suspect in custody, and yet the university has put out this warning for everyone in the area to shelter in place. I wonder what you make of that.

WACKROW: You know, really, this is out of caution, right, because the primary threat, the primary shooting has now stopped. You can -- you see that the law enforcement, what they're doing now is, they have this suspect in custody.

They're trying to ascertain, was this a lone actor or is this somebody that is working with the other groups or were they inspired by somebody? Are they directed by somebody? So they have to assess that this is the -- this is the single threat and that there's no other.

So, out of an abundance of caution, public safety officials are putting out the word to remain sheltered in place. It also helps law enforcement, again, set up their perimeter and establish the various crime -- crime scenes that I had stated before.

And it really is just a process element that's part of the overall communication structure that the public information officers will need to be continuously putting out from here on out to really lower anxiety that the primary threat is down and really be transparent about what actions are being taken.

Now, one critical point that we haven't heard right now, and it ties back to what Ryan was saying, is family reunification or reunification to victims. We do know that people were taken to the hospital. There is probably -- in a densely populated area like this, there's probably walking wounded that are going to seek medical care on their own.

So, establishing a formalized structure to reunify individuals and loved ones with family members is critically important. That will be the next evolution of communication that comes out once we get the all-safe from public safety.

HILL: Rob, also, in terms of determining when it is time for that all-safe to be issued, part of that in terms of determining whether there may still be a threat will be if there is a person, right?

So we're told there's a suspect in custody. If that person is talking, part of what, one would imagine, they will be asking this person is, they're going to be looking into any social media, obviously, immediately as soon as they get an identification here, but whether there could have been anyone else involved. That information is going to be key right now.

D'AMICO: Yes, absolutely.

And as part of -- you don't have to read them your rights when you ask questions like that, though normally you would, but it's public safety that you're after. So, if you're asking if there's another suspect, did you do this with someone else, you actually don't have to read them the Miranda rights.

And those statements can actually still be used against the person later on, because you're trying to determine something for public safety. And there's been -- the Quarles exception has been out there for a while that you don't have to do that.

So, hopefully, the police know that, hey, you don't have to read them their Miranda rights, but you can ask about, was someone else involved? Is someone else looking at doing any damage to the university? Did you work with someone?

[13:15:03]

Because you're trying to determine if there's another threat out there. And the courts have found that you can do that without the Miranda warnings.

SANCHEZ: I just want to let our viewers know these are live images coming from Tallahassee on the campus of FSU. And you saw just now, actually a moment ago, a number of students appearing to be walking out of campus.

And then you see a police vehicle with sirens on, escorting these numerous white fans that appear to show FSU logos on them.

Jonathan, I wonder. As this scene is being processed, with something of this scale, you were just discussing a moment ago the different scenarios. This is a big footprint for law enforcement to process. Walk us through what that's like.

WACKROW: Well, listen, law enforcement really needs to identify the boundaries of these crime scenes.

And, obviously, we have a centralized location of the student union, where we believe most of the shooting took place. But we also have multiple others. If the shooter drove in a vehicle, that vehicle can be part of the crime scene. If the student is -- lives on campus or nearby, their apartment can be part of the crime scene, where that needs to be secured by law enforcement in advancement of getting a search warrant to search either the vehicle or apartment.

Again, so identifying the boundaries of the crime scene, preserving those crime scenes, so they're not tampered with, and then secondarily is preserving any type of evidence that is there. So that's why you're going to see a really meticulous action by law enforcement, especially around that student union, because, as we heard Ryan say earlier, there was from his contact that there was a blood trail.

We don't know, is that from the shooter or is that from a potential victim? So, anything like that, we need to identify and preserve. And that's what law enforcement, again, is quickly trying to do. That is why you see such a big response from federal, state, and local law enforcement, because there are a lot of actions that need to take place right now.

HILL: Absolutely.

Ryan, Jonathan, Rob, stay with us. We are going to fit in a quick break here.

If you're just joining us, we are following the breaking news out of Florida. A suspect is in custody after a shooting at Florida State University. We know at least four people have been brought to the hospital, at least four injured.

We will have much more on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:21:49]

SANCHEZ: We're tracking breaking news to CNN.

There's been a shooting at the University -- or, rather, at Florida State University. And on campus right now, there is a large police presence as officials try to figure out exactly what happened here. We understand that a suspect is in custody. At least four people are hurt.

CNN's Ryan Young has been tracking the latest here.

Ryan, what can you tell us?

YOUNG: Yes, it's important to note, Boris, that, of course, some of this information could change in the next hour or so, but what we know from our sources so far, that a suspect in custody, four people have been taken to the hospital.

And, as of right now, they are still doing searches through that campus to try to make sure everything is secure. So students are still told to shelter in place. The original tweet from FSU went out around 12:02 telling people to shelter in place.

This all happened around the student union. So, you know how important that is to the campus. It's the center of the campus. Florida State is near Florida's capitol. Now you have a surge of officers from the Leon County Sheriff's Department, Tallahassee Police Department, FDLE, FBI all centered around that campus.

And let's not forget Florida State Police Department as well. This university has dealt with an active shooter before back in 2014, when three people were shot. This campus knows how to deal with this situation. What we're told, the officers are flooded into the area right now. There are students who are still concerned about exactly what's going on.

But this is really the heartbeat of Tallahassee when you think about it. Florida State's campus is huge. And on top of all that, right now, they're trying to make sure not only of all the rooms clear, but all the activities for the campus have also been shut down. We have got that from the university as well.

The hospital has also told us those four people have been transported. We do not have conditions for the people who have been transported. We don't know they're hurt. I have talked to law enforcement sources who've said on scene they have seen blood trails,blood trails they have had to follow to figure out if anyone else was injured.

So this remains an active situation as we look at these live pictures and as we try to figure out exactly what's going on, on this developing story, but, again, an active shooter on Florida State's campus that was taken down by the police officers. Hopefully, we will see exactly what happens and how they got him in custody in the near future -- Boris and Erica.

SANCHEZ: Ryan, thank you so much.

We're joined now by Garrett Harvey. He's a student at FSU. He was at school when he saw people fleeing the scene.

Garrett, walk us through what you witnessed. What time was it and what were you doing?

Hey, Garrett, are you with us? Looks like we're having some issues with Garrett's signal there, but he's one of several students now that have posted on social media or spoken to cameras about hearing gunfire and witnessing people rushing from the scene.

HILL: Witnessing people and then getting their alerts too, right?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

HILL: So we know that, in this day and age, at so many of these schools, as soon as somebody becomes a student, they can sign up for alerts, which will tell them about everything, when the power is out in a building...

SANCHEZ: Yes.

HILL: ... when there is an active shooter.

Oftentimes, their parents can also sign up for those alerts, as can faculty. So they may be getting all of that information in real time that's coming to them on their cell phones to let them know to shelter in place. And, as Ryan was pointing out, there have been incidents in the past. Some 10 years ago, there was an incident in Florida State.

[13:25:04]

But, as you have pointed out, this is such a -- I mean, you have a vast open campus...

SANCHEZ: Yes.

HILL: ... and the difficulties in securing a space like that.

I think we still have Jonathan Wackrow with us as well.

Jonathan, just walk us through. So, Florida State initially pointing out that this was near the student union, again, four people taken to a medical facility. We know there's one suspect in custody, but when we're talking about -- Boris and I were just looking at the maps actually of the campus.

When you're talking about such a large college campus, also knowing that it is close to the state capitol, how does that complicate efforts for law enforcement to get to the point where they can say this area is in fact now secure?

WACKROW: Well, I think you hit the point right away, is that the size and scale of FSU, its campus, coupled with the density of the population, really present a very unique challenge for law enforcement.

Again, that is why you're seeing such a significant response to this confirmed active shooting situation. And what they have to do is, again, they need to set up a perimeter and start working that perimeter back into most likely the student union area, again, to identify, are there any other threats?

I mean, just looking at the campus itself, there are a lot of buildings. The roads are not straight. So the roadways and walkways are all curving. There's a lot of places for a secondary threat or an associate of the primary shooter to be hiding.

Then you have all of the people that are sheltering in the various buildings. So, whether it's student unions, classroom buildings or dormitories, you have to be able to have a very systematic process of releasing those students and getting them out of the area so law enforcement can conduct this high-risk search for a secondary threat.

SANCHEZ: Jonathan, please stand by.

We have Garrett Harvey now again with us over the phone. Garrett is a student at FSU.

I understand, Garrett, that you're in the process of being evacuated right now. Walk us through what you.

GARRETT HARVEY, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Yes.

So we were evacuated from our building. Right now, we are being held in another building, which I am not going to say. We are currently in the process of being evacuated. There's a lot of police that are kind of checking doors. We're -- it's a very fluid situation right now, but we evacuated from our building to another building.

But that's about as much as I could say right now, at least in terms of the evacuation process.

HILL: And what about, Garrett, in terms of the alerts that you were getting from the school as soon as you were told to shelter in place and then and then what you have been told in terms of communications since then?

HARVEY: The communications has been roughly the same. It has been just shelter in place, police are evacuating buildings, and then that there is pretty much like just a shelter in place, and as soon as police arrive -- OK, there's going to be shooting. Hold on. There's going to be a gunshot.

They're breaking open a door. So it's not a shooting. It's just breaking open a door.

HILL: OK, Garrett. So -- so, you're OK, Garrett, just to be clear?

HARVEY: Yes, they were just opening a door. They were opening the door.

HILL: OK. They being law enforcement?

HARVEY: Yes, law enforcement.

HILL: OK. So everyone's -- I mean, how many -- I know you don't want to name the building, which we understand, but how many people are you with?

HARVEY: There's a lot of people. It's a very crowded space right now. There's going to be a few thousand probably.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

Garrett, taking a step back to earlier today, when did you first realize something had gone wrong?

HARVEY: I was about to go downstairs to the building I was in. I noticed people were running across the street, which is not usual.

And then there was police sirens going on. And when I kept seeing more people running and more people running across the street, I knew there was something going wrong. That's when I decided it was best to shelter in place. And I closed the door. And then that's when the alert was issued.

It was a very -- the alert was issued really quickly, I would say about -- I saw it in about a minute or so. So the alert time was very quick by FSU.

HILL: And you say you're with a fair amount of people right now. I'm curious. As part of when you were starting there at FSU, is this something that was discussed, the protocol for an event like this that may happen?

I mean, I know my kids, right, who are teenagers now, their entire school life, they have gone through active shooter drills. Does that also happen at the university level for you?

HARVEY: So, when you're first oriented at FSU, you will go through a bunch of orientation stuff, and then they will require you to watch an active shooter video.

And that is to prepare you for anything that happens. And this was pretty much in a good way. All right, we're being evacuated right now. So, if I have to put my phone away, you will hear nothing.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

HILL: We understand.

So you're -- you were moved into this one space. You were in a different space, moved into another building, which we're not naming. You're now being moved to another space in that same building, or do you know if you're being brought to a different building?

HARVEY: We do not know. We -- it could be that we're leaving, but I'm not going to speculate.

SANCHEZ: Sure. Sure.