TALLAHASSEE (AP) — The first of several packages mailed by a man who shot three people at a Florida State University library was delivered in Texas, a law enforcement official said Friday.
Authorities thought the packages could contain videos and journals from Myron May, who was killed by police officers outside the library Thursday, according to the official, who requested anonymity because that person wasn't authorized to release information about the case.
Police obtained videos and journals Thursday that indicate May feared he was being watched and targeted by the government. Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo said May was trying to get that message out.
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May graduated from Florida State in 2005 and earned a law degree at Texas Tech University. He worked as a lawyer in Texas and New Mexico before returning about three weeks ago to Florida. He has family in Ohio, where he was born.
At Stozier Library, about 450 students were studying when May showed up and opened fire. When police arrived, the 31-year-old alumnus had wounded two students and an employee and reloaded a .380 semi-automatic pistol. He refused to put down the weapon and a gun battle erupted. Between May and police, 30 rounds were fired.
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.
The first 911 call from the shooting came from one of the victims, according to an initial Tallahassee Police report released Friday.
The victims are student Elijah Velez, 18, who was grazed by a bullet and treated at the scene; student Farhan Ahmed, 21, who was in critical condition when admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and is still being treated, and library employee Nathan Scott, 30, who was shot in the leg. Police didn't say which one called 911, but there were several more calls that followed.
May sent friends messages before the shooting saying they could expect packages Friday. Authorities were trying to intercept them, but they weren't sure where each of the packages was to be delivered. They believe they are being sent to several states.
Authorities Friday were examining packages May sent to friends before the Florida State shooting.
Joe Paul, a Washington, D.C., resident and motivational speaker who knew May from their time in Florida State student government, said postal inspectors intercepted a package May sent to him. The postal inspectors told him that the package contained nothing dangerous, and promised they would eventually release it to him.
“We want to know why this happened,” Paul said. “The sooner we know why this happened, the sooner we can start to heal.”
Paul said May mailed similar packages to about nine people. The FBI in Houston was examining another package delivered in Texas and others were believed to have been sent to Florida and elsewhere. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said the packages weren't a threat and said they were flat-rate, priority mail envelopes.
Florida State President John Thrasher greeted about 100 students Friday as Strozier Library reopened with a heavy police presence and the university resumed classes.
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“I still don't know there's any real explanation why he picked Strozier, why he picked the time he did,” said Thrasher, who has been on the job less than two weeks. “That's beyond, I think, anyone understanding now.”
University police participated in active shooter training less than two weeks before the attack, including a scenario with a shooter at the library.
“It's good to know we look at those opportunities where someone may try to harm our students,” said university police Chief David Perry.