Eleven people were shot on Saturday night on Perry Street, behind Bragg Memorial Stadium at Florida A&M University, in the hours after the Rattlers’ homecoming game. The youngest was 11 years old.
Twelve people were hurt in all: six adults and six juveniles. One of them, a grandmother of a victim, was injured while running from the gunfire. Three victims were seriously hurt and one was in critical condition. Eight were listed as stable. No arrests had been announced Sunday.
Homecoming is the biggest weekend of the year at a historically Black university. Alumni, families and children from the neighborhood fill the streets around the stadium, and Perry Street was one of the places they gathered once the game was over.
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said that “preliminary information indicates an altercation occurred between individuals before the shooting.” He described it as an “isolated incident between two or three individuals.” The shooting began shortly before 8 p.m. Police sent their homicide and violent crimes unit to investigate.
FAMU said in a message to the campus: “our hearts go out to the victims and all those affected by this tragic incident.”
The department has not said who fired or how many people did. It has not said whether the wounded were the people in the argument or bystanders. With six juveniles among the injured, who was standing in the line of fire is the question investigators have yet to answer publicly.
FAMU has had gunfire on or near its campus before. In November 2022, a man was killed and four others were hurt in a shooting outside the student recreation center. None of those victims were students, police said then.
Police are asking anyone with information or video to call the Tallahassee Police Department at 850-891-4200 or Crime Solvers at 850-574-TIPS.
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