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“People took cover in the book aisles to hide from the gunman in case he came onto the floor.”

A gunman last night in the Florida State University library injures three people, leaves the building, and gets killed by campus police when he points his gun at them.

The library was full of students, presumably studying for finals.

*********************

Were the shootings targeted? (Probably not.)

Was it a crazed student? Are non-students able to get into the library? Did the shooter shoot his way in?

Why did the shooter stop shooting and leave the library? Why did the shooter not keep shooting until police closed in and then kill himself?

Margaret Soltan, November 20, 2014 5:18AM
Posted in: guns

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3 Responses to ““People took cover in the book aisles to hide from the gunman in case he came onto the floor.””

  1. Marcie Says:

    Just in case you haven’t yet found the answers to the questions you pose:

    The shootings were not targeted, although it is unclear why he chose the FSU library as the place to carry out his desire to bring “targeted individuals” to the attention of the public. He was clearly mentally ill; suffering from extreme paranoia.

    The FSU library has a sophisticated system of ingress / egress that allows only authorized individuals (those with currently active FSU ID’s) to enter the library. This security feature stopped him in the lobby of the library, which is why he turned and left.

    He did not kill himself; he was killed by an FSU police officer when he failed to obey the command to drop his weapon. He was immediately confronted by police as he left the library; the FSU Police station is located approximately 100 yards from the location of the shooting(s).

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Thanks, Marcie. I didn’t know that the security policy at the door kept him in the lobby.

  3. Marcie Says:

    Security was enhanced due to sexual assault incidents in the library….

    http://www.fsunews.com/article/20100712/FSVIEW/100711021/It-happened-library

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