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At Least 6 Hurt, Suspect in Custody After Mass Shooting at FSU; Law Enforcement Officials: Police Believe There was One Shooter at FSU. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 17, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:17]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're continuing to follow breaking news out of Tallahassee, Florida. At least six people are hurt. A suspected gunman is in custody following a mass shooting on Florida State University's campus. We're told one person is in critical condition, five others in serious condition. A law enforcement source telling CNN that three guns were found on campus, including a shotgun at the Student Union.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: We've also been hearing from people on campus as they witness this chaos unfold. They're talking us through what those moments were like. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELESTE HALAVIN, FSU STUDENT: I was actually on the phone in like the stairwell. I was in the library between like the fourth and fifth floor. And like people started flooding up the stairs, but like nobody told me what happened. So then, I started walking back up to the fifth floor. By the time I got there, there was like these girls and like, it was just chaos. Everyone was like, there's like a shooter and stuff. And so like these guys started like pressing the elevator button to have the elevators come up and like put tables in the block way to like block anyone from getting on the elevator. And then like some other guys like closed the doors to the fifth floor and then put tables and stuff there.

We actually were by the windows. So like at the windows, we saw cops running, students running. It was just like complete chaos. Everyone was like running all over the place. And then we saw like a gurney and then like the gurney came back and the guy had his arm cut off. And I think like he was bleeding and like he had like bandages and stuff. And so, like, that was really hard to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Wow.

HILL: Understandably, that would be hard to see. So that description from one student there talking about she was saying she had been in the library that last bit about seeing someone injured. We do know that six people are injured at this point, one of them critically, five in serious condition.

Also with us this hour is Joshua Sirmans, who's joining us. He is a junior at FSU.

Joshua, appreciate you being with us.

So as we understand it, you were in the library on the second floor of the library, which is fairly close to the Student Union. Can you walk us through what happened and what you saw and experienced?

JOSHUA SIRMANS, FSU STUDENT: Yes, ma'am. So once again, I was on the second floor of the library studying for my final with another student. And, of course, I had my headphones in. I got to take this final in about two hours. And you just start to notice people like running towards the windows. And it's like a little concerning, but I'm still studying at this point.

And then you hear like the siren go off and it sounds sort of like a fire alarm. But at the end of it, it says active shooter. And, of course, I just look around. I'm trying to process it. I'm like, okay. So, of course, we go get to a safe area. I got to a study cubby with another student and just relax in there for a little bit, looking at the news.

And then, of course, it's, like, starting to settle in and you're seeing videos of other students shot and bleeding out. And you're kind of like trying to process it. And it's just a lot to take in from that moment.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I can imagine there's a lot going through your mind right then.

Joshua, talk to us about the campus itself, what the Student Union is like, whether you've ever noticed security presence there before.

SIRMANS: Usually - you don't really think much about the Student Union being unsafe or anything. It's usually always security around, it's usually a safe campus. The Student Union is usually bustling, a lot of kids there. I'm also always there. And you just think like, wow, I can't believe that just happened there. It's just crazy.

HILL: Yes. And, you know, as you mentioned, in that moment, this normally feels like a safe place in that moment. As you're processing everything that's happened and you're making your way into that cubby with other students to stay safe.

[15:05:03]

How much of what you were deciding to do in that moment was part of even training that you were given as you came in as a student, were there - was it from alerts that were being sent out by the school? What kind of guidance were you being given, if any? SIRMANS: Of course, we got alerts the text messages to the school, but, like, it's just, like, something you can't really prepare for or react to a certain type of way. It's just kind of surreal. Like, of course, you're getting notifications and the school's being like that, but I don't know how you can properly prepare yourself to, like, be in that environment or to have that happen to you while you're there.

So, yes, the school did very much keep us updated with everything, but it's just hard to process, hard to live through.

SANCHEZ: Joshua, what year are you at FSU?

SIRMANS: Yes, sir. I'm a junior here at FSU.

SANCHEZ: So, I imagine you were, what, in elementary school or in middle school when the Parkland shooting happened. I'm sure you've witnessed a number of other shootings happen across the country. I can't imagine that you ever saw yourself as a person who would be affected by something like this as you're working through these feelings. Give us some perspective on what it's like.

SIRMANS: It's like - I don't - it's hard to say, it's like, of course, I was in middle school when the Parkland shooting happened and I'm not too sure what shooting it was called, but I was in middle school when a major shooting was here in Florida. And it's like, you just notice it, but I feel like it's so, like, ordinary today to see it on your phone and be like, oh, man, that's terrible. But to actually have it happen to you while you're here, it's a different feeling. It's hard to process. And I'm still processing it and it's just really surreal. It's something.

HILL: Yes.

SIRMANS: I don't know how to describe, but it's a feeling.

HILL: I know the school has been urging everyone to reach out to their loved ones, to let them know that you're okay. What was that moment like when you were able to reach your family and reach even some of your friends on campus to let them know that you're okay. But then also know that some of your friends are okay?

SIRMANS: It was really relieving to know a lot of people were okay. And it was relieving to finally get to talk to my mom, my dad, and they were very excited to talk to me, crying, hoping I was okay. And it was really good to hear their voices and for them to hear my voices, which was a good feeling. It was probably something I'll just remember forever. So, yes, it was it was just great, great to finally get to connect with these people and people I care about.

HILL: Yes.

SANCHEZ: It's such a huge relief. I can only imagine what that feeling is like and how relieved your parents must have been as well.

I wonder, Joshua, you mentioned you're a junior, you still have another year at least of coursework at FSU. How do you think this experience is going to shape your - the rest of your time on campus?

SIRMANS: I really can't say. I'm just like it's hard to imagine this like ever happening to you. Like, you always hear about it and it's like, okay, it's a big country, big place, this happens all the time. But like when it happens to you, I don't know, it's going to be weird walking around, weird processing it going about campus. It's just like, damn, this just happened like a couple of days ago. Like this really just happened and it happened here at the Student Union. I guarantee you walking through there is going to feel a little weird. So I just don't know yet, but I know it's going to be different.

SANCHEZ: Joshua Sirmans, thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. We're glad that that you're okay.

SIRMANS: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

HILL: Jonathan Wackrow is also with us.

And Jonathan, as we bring you in, we are getting some new video that we are just showing. As you can show - see the area, of course, roped off there for law enforcement as they are continuing. We know they are continuing to go door to door, building to building, encouraging people, you know, really even just 20 minutes ago to continue to shelter in place because law enforcement does need to actively clear every room on the main campus.

So, they're asking people to continue to shelter in place until they've been contacted by law enforcement. Jonathan, this is really important as we look at it, too. And we're talking so much about just how big Florida State is. I mean, this is a massive university, 10s of thousands of students, not to mention the staff, the faculty.

In addition, Tallahassee, of course, a major city. When we look at all of that, the - just processing as I look at a map of the campus, the number of buildings that law enforcement is really going to have to go through, you know, we're talking door to door in the dorms to make sure that everyone is safe, to make sure that the area is safe before they can actually clear it, Jonathan.

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes. No, listen, you know, everyone wants this to be a quick resolution in that - for that all clear signal to come out. But the size and scale of this operation to, you know, properly clear with a very, you know, tactful and deliberate process that's established by law enforcement does take time.

[15:10:06]

And, you know, we have to make sure that we're giving law enforcement the appropriate amount of time to clear this this vast, you know, area of operation. And the reason why they're doing this is what we have seen typically in previous mass shooting situations and events is that there could be some explosive devices, whether it's in the suspect's vehicle or, you know, planted somewhere else.

This may have been a multifaceted, you know, attack. So with that being said, law enforcement is not taking any chances whatsoever. They're going to go through and take a very methodical process in how they clear every single building, how they clear the students, bring the students from areas that they're locked down in into an area of reunification.

So again, setting expectations for everybody. This will take time, but that is by design. It's part of the public safety process, and this is something that public safety officials have trained for. They have processes for to do this and do it as effective as possible, but safely to ensure that no threats exist at this time.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's so important to nail every key piece of evidence down and to put together a narrative of what happened for posterity and potentially for prosecution as well.

Juliette Kayyem is with us.

And Juliette, I wonder, as this suspect is in custody, obviously we don't know whether that means that they are being treated for medical attention. We don't know how police apprehended them, whether they surrendered, whether there was some kind of interaction with law enforcement that involved the weapons. But I do wonder how that plays into the investigation itself and the process by which law enforcement goes about determining a motive and questioning that individual after something like this happens.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. So, a lot of it is going to depend on is he talking and why is he talking. And, of course, his legal representation. And we also don't know what condition he is in. We have not heard about his - how they were able to apprehend him. Was it a student engaged him. Was it law enforcement or did he surrender without suicide and shooting himself.

That will be relevant to two - his ability or willingness to talk is going to be relevant to two major factors. One, of course, is means, the acquisition of the guns. Whose guns were they? How long had he planned it? Is this something that he woke up yesterday and decided to do? Or is this something, as we often learn in these cases, that, you know, for weeks people were worried about him. He had some stress.

The second is motive. Is this - we're always in search of some clean motive, you know, and sometimes they don't come. But was this related to the school - was he affiliated with the school? Was he an employee? Was he a student? Or did he just happen upon the school? And then why did he do it? Is there an ideological agenda? A political agenda?

So that - those two categories is just basically comes down to means and motives, and each of them has different solutions, right? And in other words - in terms of access to weaponry or what was the purpose, so to speak, of this - of him doing this as we learn more.

And honestly, the people who are injured may also be able to give us a clue about why were they shot in - and where and was that relevant to what his motive was?

HILL: Yes. And whether or not they were known to the to the shooter, right? Once we - once you figure out who that is, if there was any relationship there whatsoever.

Stay with us. We are going to fit in a quick break here. We're also - I do want to remind you - we're waiting to hear for an update from the police there in Tallahassee. We are told that that is happening a short time from now this afternoon. So, we will continue to monitor for that and bring you that event as well as soon as it happens. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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[15:18:40]

SANCHEZ: We're continuing to follow the breaking news into CNN. At least six people hurt, a suspect now in custody after a mass shooting on the campus of Florida State University. Officials are set to deliver a news conference later this afternoon. We can go to CNN's Ryan Young now, who has been tracking all of this.

And Ryan, I understand that officials are still working through some of the buildings on campus, clearing them.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. This - so look, this news conference will be very important for all of us so we can get those details about exactly what's going on and what they've been able to encounter so far. We've talked about that suspect being in custody. That part of this worked really quickly because we know the officials were able to respond to this shooting and get that suspect taken in.

We also know they found weapons on campus, but the real unfolding story right now is from trying to figure out where all the students were hiding in place. We listened to some of those interviews from the students that detailed how students were sheltering in place, trying to block elevators, using desks to block doors. This is something that I guess all kids are starting to learn how to do. It's really a sad state of where we are. But at the same time, that action took place. And now we've even seen this online.

You can hear officers going door to door. They're knocking hard on the door, identifying themselves as police officers and asking the students to come out. At that point, they're taken to the Civic Center where they can reunify with family members or loved ones or other students.

[15:20:06]

The shock, the ramifications of this throughout the campus have been fast, because we've heard a lot of students be in fear. So many are reporting the fact that they heard the gunshots and, at first, they didn't know how to react. We also heard John Miller talk about the fact that they've been able to figure out that they were only looking for that one shooter. They're not looking for a second. Those other reports came out very quickly.

It's something that we worried about before because so many people were scrambling over a large campus. Rumors started to spread that something they wanted to make sure didn't get out of hand. So, on those reminiscent scenes of students walking with their hands up as officers were clearing the building.

I talked about a law enforcement source who was on scene there who even encountered blood on the ground as they were doing the survey. So, they were trying to track that part down. You see the scene right here. The scary images. Knowing these students are terrified by what's going on, on this beautiful campus and everyone's been describing this as one of those days where they were just sort of locked into being a student.

That Student Union, this center of campus, a beautiful place. Folks like myself who attended that university love that center place. It's always bustling with activity. On top of that, you got to think about the people who were taken to the hospital. We know at least one in critical and then the other five so far being in serious condition.

This all started around 12:02. That tweet went out and Florida State really locked down that campus. We also know this is not the first time tragedy has hit this campus because back in 2014 three were shot near the library back then. So, the pain has been immense and we've been hearing it interview after interview. But as this lockdown continues and try to figure out this shelter-in-place, we do know a lot of the activities around this campus have been canceled so far, looking forward to hearing what police are dealing with right now at this point and what they know about the shooter and how he's in custody right now. Something that will be important to so many of us. Guys?

HILL: Yes. Understandably a lot of questions and the hope for a lot of answers later this afternoon when we do hear from officials.

Ryan, appreciate it. Thank you.

Also with us this hour is Chris Malave. He's an FSU student and was in the Student Union when this happened. Saw others running.

Chris, appreciate you taking the time to join us. And we're glad you're okay first of all. Most important.

CHRIS MALAVE, STUDENT, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: Thank you.

HILL: The fact that you were there - absolutely - the fact that you were there in the Union which we know at this hour, you know, is still under lockdown. Everyone being asked to avoid that area. Walk us through what happened. What did you experience?

MALAVE: Yes, absolutely. So, I mean I just got my lunch from the Union and I was getting ready to work on some of my meteorology homework. Right now, I'm a junior at FSU studying meteorology and I was getting ready to do some of my work when from - something from the - about the east entrance of the FSU Student Union I saw a horde of students running in in a frenzy where I realized what was going on. I think I might have heard someone say it was an active shooter event, so I quickly grabbed what I could and just got out of there. Now, unfortunately when I was trying to flee from the Student Union, I actually ended up tripping on some of the stairs that lead up to the union and I sprained my ankle. I have a couple scratches on my leg as well as on my left thumb. Otherwise, physically, I'm alright. I'm just taking the time right now to just recover and kind of process everything.

But after I left that Student Union I hid behind some bushes. And when I did I was able to contact my mom. But at the same time I started hearing gunshots ring off in a very rapid succession. I believe I get - I didn't actually see the shooter but from what I heard it sounded more like an automatic weapon and it was just absolutely horrific and it's something I'm not forget - going to forget for a very long time.

But after those shots subsided, I was able to make it back to my car. I commuted to school today. It was parked on the northeast or sorry excuse me the northwest side of FSU's campus. So, it was a little bit of a tricker walk, again, because of my leg. But I was able to evacuate the area safely and I know I've already seen some video.

After I was able to leave the campus I saw that much of Tennessee Street has been barricaded just not allowing a lot of travel in that area. And I saw a lot of video online even from some of my meteorology friends of students fleeing across Tennessee Street to try to do whatever they can to just get away from the situation.

So, from my experience and what I've been hearing from my close friends it seems like that basically kind of like what we've been taught like growing up is, you know, like run, fight, hide. Like I saw a lot of students running and then several other my friends were being sheltered in some of the buildings on campus.

[15:24:59]

And over the past hour or so now, many of those students have been evacuated by law enforcement as well as some of them have been evacuated to the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center which is the - here at FSU. So that's kind of been a - like a ground-zero center for students just to recuperate and just get to a secure location just following this event.

HILL: Yes, that's the - the reunion area right that we've been told from the emergency from law enforcement officials, that's where they want everybody to go. But again, it's still - you know, this is still a crime scene so at that lockdown right slowly being lifted as they go building to building.

Chris, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.

MALAVE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Let's bring in CNN's John Miller.

John, as you were hearing there, he's describing a succession of shooting in rapid-fire. Our reporting indicated from law enforcement that there was a shotgun found at the Student Union as well as a pistol and then another weapon in the suspect's car. By the way, a law enforcement in Tallahassee has just put out a notice saying that the threat has been neutralized.

I wonder what you make of what you heard there. Obviously, a lot can happen in a stressful situation like this and you can't always gather every detail until law enforcement gathers all the evidence.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, Boris and Erica, as you all know because we've sat through these things in progress before, the information comes in fragments and first out of focus and then gets more granular as we go forward. So, what we know now is and what we're being told by sources and I preface this which I always do by saying this is preliminary, because this information may shift and change is - that the suspect opened fire in the Student Union that shortly after he opened fire and wounded that number of people, he was shot.

Now, what we don't know was he shot by someone who was present who had a firearm or was he encountered by police who got there very quickly, but we are told he was wounded which fits in with the terminology they just put out in that tweet which is he was neutralized. Don't know his condition.

But what they're essentially saying is the scene is secured but they want people to stay out of and away from the crime scene as they clear that building. But they're relaxing the hold that they have put on the entire campus and until further notice all events are canceled through Friday while they help students, faculty and everybody deal with this, and continue their investigation, their video canvas and all that goes with it.

HILL: So, John, let me let me ask you, doubling back on that on the language, right, in this alert that just went out less than 10 minutes ago, law enforcement has neutralized the threat. A lot of people hear the word neutralized and they think that that threat not only is there no longer a threat but if that threat is for example a person, that does not necessarily mean that that person is dead. It just means they are no longer a threat.

MILLER: No, it doesn't necessarily mean the person is dead. It means they're no longer a threat, but we are told by sources that he was shot in an encounter with either someone or law enforcement during this attack.

SANCHEZ: And John to your point now ...

MILLER: I mean we also have some information into the background of the shooter, which is - what we've been trying to find out is, is he a student at FSU Tallahassee. Don't have the answer to that. What we have learned is that he is a young person who is local to Tallahassee, apparently grew up in the city in the area and that they are in touch with his family. A number of steps happen now, of course, they'll obtain search warrants not just for where he was living but for his devices, phones, computers and so on.

What they'll be looking for is a motive and they have some inroads into that now, but it's too early to go there.

HILL: They'll also be looking into those weapons that were found, right, running the serial numbers on those, running all of that information to figure out who purchased the weapons, where they were purchased, when they were purchased.

MILLER: Exactly. And, you know, that will get them from where they were manufactured from the serial number, it'll take them to the store or dealer who last sold them. And then the question will be, were they sold to the shooter, to the shooter's family. Did he buy them in a private sale, which is not uncommon in Florida.

The Florida gun laws are interesting in that anybody can possess a rifle or shotgun as long as they're qualified under the law and is not a convicted felon. Same with pistols. And if you want to get a license to carry a concealed weapon, you can do that but under Florida law if you don't want to get a license carrying a concealed handgun is not a crime if you would have been legally qualified to apply for a license. So it's fairly open in terms of who may possess a gun as long as they're not a convicted felon.

[15:30:02]

SANCHEZ: Very interesting.

John, just one more thing to be as precise as possible. As you were describing the suspect, you described him as a he ...