FSU Shooting: Myron May ‘paranoid’ shooter, Nathan Scott recovering, Jason Derfuss saved by books, God
A gunman was fatally shot after opening fire in a library on Florida State University’s campus early Thursday, injuring three. Police identifed the man as Myron May, a FSU alum, who may have become increasingly paranoid that the government or someone was watching him.
Myron May photo/Facebook
May was confronted by police at the Strozier Library on FSU’s campus just after midnight Thursday. Officers ordered him to drop his weapon, according to Tallahassee Police spokesman Dave Northway. “The suspect did not comply with the commands and shot at the officers,” he added. “They returned fire and the suspect was killed.”
Police Chief Michael DeLeo described the shooting as an “isolated incident with one person acting alone.”
May’s Facebook page showed he was interested in “targeted individuals,” who believe they are victims of mind control and covert harassment they call “gang stalking.”
“Has anyone here ever been encouraged by your handler to kill with a promise of freedom?” May wrote on Nov. 14 on a Facebook page for a group called Targeted Individuals International.
In October, May went to his ex-girlfriend’s house and told her he thought police were bugging his phone and placing cameras in his home and car.
The ex-girlfriend told police May handed her a piece of a car and said she should keep it because it was a camera the police had put in his vehicle. He then left her house.
Three students were shot in the attack. Nathan Scott was shot in the leg, but was in stable condition and recovering well at the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare facility.
Both of the other victims remain unidentified, one in critical condition, so check back as details are expected to emerge Friday morning.
May graduated from FSU in 2005, got a law degree from Texas Tech and practiced law in Texas before moving to New Mexico to work as a public defender in Las Cruces and then a prosecutor in the Dona Ana County district attorney’s office.
Friends and family noted financial problems and a possible girlfriend issue for May’s return home to Florida, where we was set to take the Florida bar exam in February and open a practice.
Jason Derfuss, 21, a senior at FSU, was also shot, but the slug was stopped by the books in his backpack. He shared his amazing story with Tallahassee.com, credit God’s intervention.
“I honestly think that this was a direct intervention by God,” said Derfuss.
