TALHASSEE (WFLA) – Florida State University students in Tallahassee woke up and continued their normal days ready to go to class, but the event that occurred on campus Thursday morning was not normal.
Abandoned backpacks, spilled drinks, forgotten phones and yellow warning tapes within Florida State University Student Union. The aftermath of a very emotional and overwhelming day for FSU students.
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The Student Union is a gathering place for many people on FSU’s campus. Students and staff usually enjoy gathering every day during lawn classes to catch up or take a bite with friends, but after today’s tragic event, students say they can’t forget the intense, disturbing scenes that took place on campus.
Phoenix Echner, the accused shooter, was reportedly found near the Student Union as a Tallahassee police officer confronted him. Investigators say officers fired when he refused their orders. FSU students shared a tragic story after witnessing it all.
“I heard them scream, but we thought the girl was like legal, done by police and placed on an ambulance stretcher,” said FSU student Shayna Nickwaltz. “One person sat in the back of a police truck, blood came out of his side and at that moment it was like this was true, and my heart fell.”
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College students Shayna Nickwaltz and Elizabeth Norton shared their frustration after the event Thursday.
“He can just park here. Do you know where to walk right around campus, saying there’s no parking in the fire truck?” Nick Waltz said. “It must have been in shape and shape in some way. It’s really sad that no one has ever seen it. I don’t know.
Two freshman FSU students, Colin Reynolds and Briam Hernande, Z, sat in their usual weekly philosophy classes as the campus alarm began to sound.
“Our roommate, my twin brother, is in the union every day for his online classes,” Reynolds said.
But by chance, Reynolds’ brother Obertrept may have kept him out of harm, and the realization hit hard on both students.
“This is two of the second school shootings together in the same room,” Reynolds and Hernandez said.
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Both students shared with eight on your side that they had experienced similar lockdowns before returning to the high school where the shooter was reported nearby.
“It shares Reynolds every time we are together, or in the building right next to it, or in the room next to it.” During our junior year of high school, we were in the auditorium. ”
Reynolds and Hernandez shared that they were grateful to have done that in yet another school shooting as they left campus Thursday afternoon.
“It feels like there are really a lot of close calls, like really, really close calls,” Reynolds said.
Students don’t understand why or how such heartbreaking incidents happen on campus. It’s especially close to graduation or the end of the school year.
