>> IF YOU COUNT ON GULF COAST NEWS AT 6 ON NBC. >> IT SHOULD BE OUT OF A HORROR MOVIE. THINGS LIKE THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN REAL LIFE. >> EVERYONE STARTED SCREAMING AND RUNNING AT SOME POINT LIKE TOP OF EACH OTHER OVER THAT SCREAMING FROM BEHIND IN FRONT OF ARE LEFT TO RIGHT. AND I JUST RAN OFF THAT WAY. >> KNOW MY SHOES COME OFF CARE EYE. >> WE SAW LIKE GIRL BEING THE JET CARRIED OUT BY COPS IN PLACE ON TO A STRETCHER. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED MY SON WAS ON A SEE IN SHOCK. I DON'T KNOW HOW THESE FRESHMAN OF >> KEEP GOING TO CLASSES. WHEN'S THE APPROPRIATE TIME TO START TAXING YOUR FAMILY AND SAYING THERE'S GUNSHOTS OUTSIDE MY CLASSROOM LIKE I LOVE YOU GUYS. >> FSU STRONG. THAT IS THE MESSAGE RESONATING ACROSS OUR STATE TONIGHT IN THE WAKE OF YESTERDAY'S MASS SHOOTING ON THE CAMPUS OF FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY. WE LEARNED TODAY ABOUT THE 2 MEN WHO DIED. ROBERT MORALES WORKED AT FSU. HE WAS A HUSBAND AND A FATHER. ALSO A FORMER ASSISTANT FOOTBALL COACH AT LEON HIGH SCHOOL IN TALLAHASSEE. THE OTHER WORKER WHO DIED IS TO A FATHER OF 2. GOOD EVENING AND THANK YOU FOR COUNTING ON GULF COAST NEWS. I'M PETER BUSCH, TALLAHASSEE. POLICE RELEASED SOME NEW INFORMATION ABOUT YESTERDAY'S SHOOTING. THEY SAID AROUND 11 O'CLOCK YESTERDAY MORNING, THE 20 YEAR-OLD SUSPECT PHOENIX EICHNER AND STUDENTS ARE DEAF ISSUE ARRIVED AT A SCHOOL PARKING GARAGE. HE WAS THERE FOR NEARLY AN HOUR. AND THEN AT 11, 51, HE LEFT THE GARAGE. 5 MINUTES LATER 11. 56, THE FIRST SHOTS WERE FIRED OUTSIDE BY THE STUDENT UNION. AND THEN AT NOON WITHIN 5 MINUTES, POLICE OFFICERS SAID SHOT EICHNER TO STOP THE RAMPAGE. TONIGHT, BLAYNE MONTGOMERY IS SPEAKING EXCLUSIVELY TO AN FSU SOPHOMORE WHO GRADUATED FROM FORT MYERS HIGH SCHOOL ABOUT THE MOMENT SHE THOUGHT THE SHOOTER MIGHT COME INTO HER CLASSROOM. >> THIS WAS ONE OF MY BIGGEST NIGHTMARE IS A DAY. FLORIDA STATE SOPHOMORE CURE UPHELD WILL NEVER FORGET. NEVER REALLY KNOW UNTIL YOU'RE IN THAT SITUATION. WHEN'S THE APPROPRIATE TIME TO START TECH SENIOR FAMILY IN SAYING? THERE'S GUNSHOTS OUTSIDE MY CLASSROOM LIKE I LOVE YOU GUYS. HORRIFYING MOMENT. SHE TELLS ME SHE CAN ERASE FROM HER MEMORY. BULLETS FLYING IN THE HALLWAYS OF A PLACE. SHE CALLS HER HOME AWAY FROM HOME. ONE STUDENT OPEN THE SECOND FLOOR DOOR. AND WE ALL HEARD THE GUNSHOTS. MY PHONE IS JUST GETTING BLOWN UP WITH MY FRIENDS WHO ARE IN THEIR APARTMENT SAYING LIKE, STAY WHERE YOU ARE. IT'S RIGHT OUTSIDE. LOOKS STAY PUT. DO NOT KNOW OF HER CLASS OF ABOUT 250 STUDENTS PRAYED TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE AS THEY HEARD SIRENS AND GUNSHOTS SHORTLY AFTER THE FORT MYERS HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE HEARD SOMEONE SCREAM. ARE YOU ALL IN THERE? SO ENDED UP BEING POLICE AND THEY WERE LIKE, GET OUT NOW. GET OUT NOW ACTIVE SHOOTER. YOU ALL NEED TO EVACUATE. A FRANTIC SCENE AS SHE AND HUNDREDS RAN TO A DORM. I CALLED MY DAD AND I CAN SPEAK. I COULDN'T BREATHE. NOTHING COULD PREPARE HER FOR THE GRUESOME SCENE. I SEE STRETCHERS AND ALL THE MEDICAL PROVIDE LIKE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS RUNNING TO THEM. AT THAT MOMENT. I I WAS JUST SPEECH, THOUGH, SAY THIS IS MY WALK TO CLASS AND THERE'S NOW BODIES LAYING IN THE PATHWAY THAT I TAKE EVERY DAY. HERO WAITED IN A DORM FOR HOURS UNTIL SHE RECEIVED A TEXT FROM THE UNIVERSITY SAYING THE DANGER WAS OVER. WAS LIKE SICK TO MY STOMACH. THAT PIT FEELING LIKE YOU'RE GONNA THROW UP ALL DAY IS HOW I FELL. AND MY FRIEND BELLO AND SHE PICKED ME UP. SHE SAID WE NEED TO GO GET YOU SOME FOOD WASN'T UNTIL SHE MADE IT BACK HOME IN FORT MYERS AND WAS IN HER PARENTS ARMS TO SHE FELT SAFE. WHEN I GOT HOME. THE HUGS DON'T COMPARE TO ANYTHING ELSE LIKE STRONG THEY HELD ME AND DIDN'T LET GO. AND IT WAS JUST THE TIGHTEST HUG. NOW, KERRY SAYS THAT THEY WILL HAUNT HER FOREVER, MAYBE A STAIN ON HER BELOVED CAMPUS. I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GOING TO BE ABLE TO GO AND SIT IN THAT CLASS NEXT TUESDAY, YOU KNOW, GO ABOUT MY NORMAL DAY CONSIDERING. THE LAST I HE
āI couldnāt speak, I couldnāt breatheā: Nursing student recounts FSU shooting horror
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Updated: 8:20 PM CDT Apr 18, 2025
On a day that began like any other at Florida State University, sophomore nursing student Keira Pelle faced a terrifying realityāa campus shooting that unfolded just outside her classroom. Pelle, a graduate of Fort Myers High School, told sister station WBBH that she was attending a lecture with roughly 250 students when gunfire erupted in the hallway. āYou never really know until you're in that situation,ā she said, describing the moment she considered texting her family to say goodbye.As panic set in, Pelle received messages from friends warning her to stay put. Moments later, police entered the room, ordering students to evacuate.Outside, she witnessed a disturbing sceneāstretchers, medical staff, and bodies on the ground.āThis is my walk to class, and now there are bodies in the path I take every day,ā she recalled.Pelle and a friend took shelter in a dorm with a resident assistant, boarding up the room and hiding under a sink for three hours until authorities confirmed the threat had passed.The emotional aftermath was overwhelming. āI couldnāt eat. I felt sick all day,ā she said.It wasnāt until Pelle returned home to Fort Myers and embraced her parents that she felt any sense of peace. Now, she is unsure if she can return to the classroom where it all happened before taking time to heal, she says.āThe last thing I heard in that room was gunshots,ā she said.The experience has left a lasting impact on Pelle and the FSU community.
FORT MYERS, Fla. — On a day that began like any other at Florida State University, sophomore nursing student Keira Pelle faced a terrifying realityāa campus shooting that unfolded just outside her classroom.
Pelle, a graduate of Fort Myers High School, told sister station WBBH that she was attending a lecture with roughly 250 students when gunfire erupted in the hallway. āYou never really know until you're in that situation,ā she said, describing the moment she considered texting her family to say goodbye.
As panic set in, Pelle received messages from friends warning her to stay put. Moments later, police entered the room, ordering students to evacuate.
Outside, she witnessed a disturbing sceneāstretchers, medical staff, and bodies on the ground.
āThis is my walk to class, and now there are bodies in the path I take every day,ā she recalled.
Pelle and a friend took shelter in a dorm with a resident assistant, boarding up the room and hiding under a sink for three hours until authorities confirmed the threat had passed.
The emotional aftermath was overwhelming. āI couldnāt eat. I felt sick all day,ā she said.
It wasnāt until Pelle returned home to Fort Myers and embraced her parents that she felt any sense of peace. Now, she is unsure if she can return to the classroom where it all happened before taking time to heal, she says.
āThe last thing I heard in that room was gunshots,ā she said.
The experience has left a lasting impact on Pelle and the FSU community.
