UPDATE: Catholic students pray, assist others amid mass shooting at Florida State University
Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident at the school’s campus in Tallahassee, Florida, Thursday, April 17, 2025. / Credit: AP Photo/Kate Payne CNA Staff, Apr 17, 2025 / 15:31 pm (CNA).
Catholic students at Florida State University have been praying and assisting their fellow Seminoles amid a deadly mass shooting at the campus on Thursday, a ministry leader there told CNA.
As of early Thursday evening two people had died and multiple people had been injured after the shooting on the Tallahassee campus. Officials said the shooter was taken into custody after the incident. The shooting reportedly took place in or near the campus student union.
Sam Nunnally, the Catholic campus ministry director at the university, told CNA via email that the ministry’s parish and facilities “are directly across the street from the FSU student union. So we could hear gunshots as the incident occurred.”
“Many of the students in that area came running up the hill towards the church and remained in lockdown here for the duration of the event,” Nunnally said.
Campus ministry staff have been serving the students food and drink while waiting for the campus to be declared safe, he said.
“Many of our Catholic students have been in prayer, saying rosaries, and helping serve the other students that arrived at our facilities,” he said.
In a 2:50 p.m. tweet on Thursday, the university told community members to “continue to shelter in place.”
“Law enforcement is actively clearing rooms on the main campus,” the school said. “Continue to shelter in place until law enforcement contacts you.”
Referring to the ongoing prayer and service at the Catholic facility, Nunnally said that, as director of the Catholic ministry, “it brings me great joy, even in the midst of sorrow, to see our Catholic students living out their faith real-time in the midst of such a dire situation.”
“We hope that Catholics everywhere will say a prayer for Florida State, the Co-cathedral of St. Thomas Moore, and Catholic Noles,” he said.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee said the diocesan community was “heartbroken over what has occurred” at the school.
“The shooting happened just a few hundred yards from our Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More which has been a haven of ministerial outreach to FSU students over several decades,” the diocese noted.
“We pray for the eternal repose of the individuals who have tragically lost their lives,” the statement continued. “We ask the Lord to provide peace and healing for all those affected in this horrific situation.”
This story was updated April 17, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. with a statement from the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee and with new information on the shooting at FSU.
