A mass shooting on Thursday on the Florida State University campus sent several people to a nearby hospital, a medical center spokesperson said, with at least one person reported dead.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said in a statement it had received six patients – one in critical condition and the rest in serious condition.
NBC also reported there was at least one fatality.
A spokesperson for the Tallahassee police department said that it had one suspect in custody.
Ambulances, fire trucks and patrol vehicles from multiple law enforcement agencies raced toward the campus that sits just west of Florida’s state capital after the university issued a shooter alert at midday on Thursday, saying police were responding near the student union.
“Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding,” the state governor, Ron DeSantis, wrote on X.
The gunfire was reported at the student union building on the FSU campus and students and faculty were advised to shelter in place as police responded. More than 42,000 students attend classes at the main campus.
Videos posted on social media show students being evacuated from the scene.
Officers took one suspect into custody shortly after the shooting, two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
By mid-afternoon the Florida State University campus had been secured, according to the Tallahassee police department. Multiple law enforcement agencies remain on-site for the ongoing investigation. The student union and the surrounding area are still considered an active crime scene.
The department is instructing that individuals should not return to the area for any reason. Busing is under way to help students reach the reunification point.
Earlier, hundreds of students streamed away from the direction of the student union. Students were glued to their phones, some visibly emotional, while others hugged each other. Dozens gathered near the music school waiting for news.
Ryan Cedergren, a 21-year-old communications student, said he and about 30 others hid in the bowling alley in the lower level of the student union after seeing students running from a nearby bar.
“In that moment, it was survival,” he said.
Donald Trump opened his Oval Office meeting at the White House with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, with comments on the shooting, saying he had been fully briefed.
“It’s a horrible thing. It’s horrible that things like this take place,” the US president said.
Fred Guttenberg, the father of 14-year-old daughter Jaime Guttenberg, who was murdered in the 2018 Parkland high school shooting, said in a post on Twitter/X: “America is broken.”
“As a father, all I ever wanted after the Parkland shooting was to help our children be safe,” he said. “Sadly, because of the many people who refuse to do the right things about reducing gun violence, I am not surprised by what happened today.”
Guttenberg also said that many of his daughter’s friends who survived the Parkland shooting are current students at FSU.
University police escorted the students out of the union after about 15 minutes of hiding and he saw a person getting emergency treatment on the lawn, he said.
A junior student, Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the university’s main library when he said alarms began going off warning of a shooter. Law enforcement officers escorted him and other students out of the library with their hands over their heads, he said.
The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, said in a social media post that the justice department was in touch with FBI agents on the scene. Students and faculty were instructed to seek shelter and await further instructions.
“Lock and stay away from all doors and windows and be prepared to take additional protective measures,” the alert said.
The Leon county school district, where Tallahassee is located, posted on X: “All LCS schools are back to normal operating procedures. Lockout has been lifted district wide.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed reporting
