PANAMA CITY — People who knew Myron May, who was identified by police as the man who opened fire in the Strozier Library at Florida State University early Thursday morning, said the man described in news reports is not the man they knew growing up in Wewahitchka.
May, a 2001 Wewahitchka Middle-High School graduate, was an exceptional student and athlete who was generally cheerful. But his mental health apparently deteriorated rapidly in the months leading to Thursday's events.
"To me, there was absolutely no red flags, no indication, nothing," said novelist Michael Lister, who was something of a mentor to the younger May. "It's absolutely unexpected."
--- VICTIMS NAMED»»
--- DOCUMENT: MAY TELLS POLICE HE'S BEING WATCHED»»
--- DOCUMENT: EX-GIRLFRIEND DESCRIBES MAY'S MENTAL STATE»»
--- DOCUMENT: MAY RESIGNS FROM ATTORNEY'S OFFICE»»
Lister said the May he knew was "extremely bright." They would play basketball in the gym and take day trips with a church youth group. The last time they saw each other was about three months ago, when they bumped into each other. They spoke briefly, mostly about May's grandmother.
"He said he was good, and he mentioned that was about to relocate," Lister said.
For four years, May was on the school's track team, said former volunteer coach Mike Stroud, who is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Wewahitchka. May competed in the state tournament in the triple jump event, Stroud said.
"He was just full of life," Stroud said. "He usually had a smile on his face and was very happy. I'm in shock."
While he was in high school he was dual enrolled at Gulf Coast State College, where he took a total of five courses between 1999 and 2005, said Chris Thomes, the college's director of marketing and communications.
May shows up in Gulf County Sheriff’s Office records in 2006. On Christmas Eve that year, May was in Wewahitchka with a cousin, according to a Gulf County Sheriff's Office report. His cousin, who is not identified in the report, planned to go to a store with a man May believed was carrying illegal drugs. May told his cousin not to go, and the man became angry with May and punched him in the face and pointed a pistol at May.
May tried to have the other man arrested, but the man who hit him fled, deputies couldn't find him and prosecutors had no evidence.
After graduating from FSU in 2005, May moved to Texas and attended Texas Tech University School of Law from 2006 until 2009. He practiced law there for a time before moving on to become a prosecutor in New Mexico.
In September, he went to police to say he believed someone had put a camera in his apartment and was observing him. He said he heard voices through the walls of his apartment describing his actions.
He resigned abruptly as an assistant trial attorney, according to the Third Judicial District Attorney's Office, on Oct. 6. He didn't even check out with the Human Resources Office, according to a statement from District Attorney Mark D'Antonio.
"He was an effective prosecutor who was deeply committed to his work and serving the public while employed at our office," D'Antonio said.
--- VICTIMS NAMED»»
--- DOCUMENT: MAY TELLS POLICE HE'S BEING WATCHED»»
May left a resignation letter that gave no hint of his reason for leaving, but the next day his ex-girlfriend went to the Los Cruces Police Department to report May had "recently developed a severe mental disorder," according to a police report.
May had come to believe the police had bugged his car and his home, she said. Their relationship ended about two weeks before that night, when he'd come to her home and gave her a piece of a car that he said was a camera police has planted. He was rambling, she said.
May had ADHD and took medication to control the symptoms. His mental health had deteriorated over the course of several weeks, and over the past several days that deterioration had been especially rapid; he went days without sleeping, and had recently driven to Colorado and back in a day. The trip had no purpose, she said.
She told police he'd never been violent to her during their 15-month relationship. He'd never threatened suicide or homicide, but he been hospitalized recently for a mental health evaluation.
Back in Wewa
He returned to Wewahitchka a few weeks ago and stayed in the guest house at the Taunton Family Children's Home. Abigail knew him as a teenager who moved from Ohio to Wewahitchka to live with his grandmother.
He'd planned to gain admission to the Florida Bar and start a law practice, according to a statement the home released Thursday.
"We're just all astounded. We had no idea that he would do something like this," Taunton said. "Obviously, he was not in his right mind. ... In a million years I wouldn't have thought he'd do something like this.”
May seemed down at times and had been having financial difficulties, but no one who'd spent any time with him recently suspected he would walk into the foyer of the Strozier Library and open fire with a pistol.
Panama City resident Allan Bense, chairman of the board of trustees at FSU, woke up in the middle of the night to a phone call alerting him of what had happened. He drove to Tallahassee, where he spent the day touring the campus, talking to students and meeting with the families of two victims.
"The mood is somber. I visited with the parents of the two young men that were shot; that was probably one of the most emotional moments of my life," Bense said, adding later, "Hopefully everybody in Panama City and all over Florida will put these two victims on their prayer list."
--- VICTIMS NAMED»»
--- DOCUMENT: MAY TELLS POLICE HE'S BEING WATCHED»»
Bense toured the crime scene as well, which was closed Thursday; classes were also canceled. He said the turnstiles that separate the foyer from the main section of the library prevented May from potentially doing more harm.
"They're security, and they worked. He was not able to get in the library," he said.
After failing to enter the library May returned outside and was confronted by police. He reportedly exchanged fire with officers and was killed.
Though he didn't know May, Bense said everything he'd learned during his time on campus indicated there was nothing out of the ordinary about him.
"This person had a personal crisis that caused him to do something irrational," Bense said.
State Rep. Matt Gaetz of Fort Walton Beach said Thursday he was friends with May when the two were undergraduates at the university.
Gaetz said he had “lost contact with Myron after graduation” and was shocked to hear about the shooting.
“I knew him in ’03 as a student,” he said. “He and I were involved in student politics together.”
Gaetz and May were among a group of students who formed the Insight Political Party. May headed the party’s public service efforts.
“He was the most understated, service-oriented guy,” Gaetz recalled. “I considered him a friend. I don’t know what happens to docile people that leads them to these very aggressive acts. Obviously, he took a turn. It’s such a tragic result.”
Pam Lister has been a guidance councilor at Gulf County Schools for more than 20 years. She knew May, though he was never one of her students she said. Like everyone else, she was shocked by the villain in Thursday's news coverage.
--- VICTIMS NAMED»»
--- DOCUMENT: MAY TELLS POLICE HE'S BEING WATCHED»»
--- DOCUMENT: EX-GIRLFRIEND DESCRIBES MAY'S MENTAL STATE»»
--- DOCUMENT: MAY RESIGNS FROM ATTORNEY'S OFFICE»»
"No doubt he was a suffering soul," she said. "I think it's important to remember nobody is all one thing. It's easy to vilify someone who's done something so horrific," but the May she knew was pleasant and successful and gifted.
Pastor Mike Stroud was proud of May's success after leaving Wewa.
"He was like the small kid who made it big," Stroud said. "I know he just shot three people, but I'm telling you he was a good kid."
Fort Walton Beach Daily News staff writer Kari C. Barlow and The Associated Press contributed to this report.