Sunday Gratitude (on a Tuesday): FSU Mass Shooting, April 17, 2025

You wouldn't think I'd have any gratitude around a mass shooting, so I'll explain. So yes, in case you missed it, there was a mass shooting at Florida State University on Thursday, April 17, 2025. FSU ... my alma mater and the university at which my girls are graduating seniors. A 20-year-old student killed two and injured six before being taken down by FSU police. The two killed, both staff, have been memorialized. All but one of the six injured, all students, have now been released from the hospital. The shooter in still currently in the hospital. 

First, let me share this very powerful piece written by one of my daughter Sarah’s classmates; this describes what went on in the exact classroom Sarah was in during the tragedy. That fact that these students have been through active shooter drills for this is two-sided. It’s great that they have so they knew what do to, but it’s so incredibly sad that our kids are having to go through active shooter drills to prepare for a real event … we all hope that it won’t happen, and yet it continues to happen.

 

I was in contact with Sarah via text from the moment we got the FSU alert. Olivia was at work with me. I can only imagine the panic of the parents who weren’t able to reach their kids as quickly. And I can only imagine what these students and FSU staff experienced. But I can tell you how I felt as a parent to one of those students barricaded in a classroom for nearly three hours hiding from an active shooter on yet another campus where they should feel safe. And as a dear friend to someone who works on campus very close to the Union and is charged with trying to keep her students calm and safe in a very scary situation … I felt surreal panic. Like a “how can this really be happening” kind of panic. And a total helplessness. And not only worry for my daughter and friend experiencing it there on campus, but also worry for my daughter sitting next to me frantically texting her friends to make sure they were in a safe place.

 

And I felt lots of anger as Liv and I watched emergency vehicle after emergency vehicle scream by my office about a mile down Tennessee Street from the Union as another mass shooting takes place in a space where our kids should be having some of the best days of their lives. Truly, when will our kids in this country become more important than the easy availability of the guns making their way onto their campuses? And would you believe there is currently a bill going through our Florida legislature to repeal the gun reform measures that were put in place after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 in 2017? Surreal. Hopefully this has gotten the attention of those legislators sitting just a mile up the hill from yet another school shooting.

 

 

 

And now my gratitude. This past Friday, I was on campus and walked over to the Union to pay my respects, where I captured the photos I share here. I have immense gratitude for this university and the way they've handled this tragedy and its aftermath. As you may have guessed, April 17 was awfully close to the end of the semester. There was only one more week left and then finals week. While FSU cancelled classes and events through the weekend following the shooting, they made the decision to reopen the campus and return to classes on Monday ... however students and staff felt comfortable and with the understanding that all mandatory attendance policies were waived. By doing that, they empowered the students and staff with the decision to return to campus when they felt ready. I appreciated that for my seniors, as I did not want the shooting to be the last memory of their senior year. 

 

The Union itself remained closed until it was reopened with a reflection ceremony from 3pm-5pm yesterday. I was not able to get over there and my daughters chose not to go, but again, total gratitude to the university for giving the seniors who wanted to have one last "good" experience in their campus living room, as the Union is known. The Union is open today for more hours, and the university is planning to gradually return to regular hours by the time the summer semester starts.  

 

My gratitude goes to Piper for sharing this very powerful account and giving this Mama a peek into what was happening inside the classroom my daughter was in. My immense gratitude goes out to the first responders who put their lives on the line to protect those in harm’s way. And my love goes out to our entire FSU community and especially to the families and friends of those killed and injured in another senseless tragedy. This. Must. Stop.