TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida State University alumnus and attorney who shot three people at the school’s library early Thursday believed the government was targeting him for persecution, detailing his thoughts in a journal and in videos detectives obtained, authorities said.
Myron May had “expressed fears of being targeted and that he wanted to bring attention to this issue of targeting,” said Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo. “Mr. May was in a state of crisis.”
Police killed May, a 2005 graduate who later earned a law degree from Texas Tech University, early Thursday. Officers had responded to a 12:30 a.m. call about shots being fired at the library, where about 450 students were studying. When police arrived, May had wounded two students and an employee and reloaded a .380 semi-automatic pistol. He refused to put the gun down and they opened fire. More than 30 rounds were fired by May and the officers.
Police said May didn’t get past the lobby, but the sound of gunfire set off screams among students, who scrambled for cover among the bookshelves and barricaded themselves in rooms.
One person was in critical condition at a local hospital. Another, library staffer Nathan Scott, in good condition at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. A third person was treated and released. Police have not yet uncovered a motive.
Shooter was well-liked but troubled