Police say the gunfire followed a physical altercation after the university’s homecoming football game. Six of the victims were children, and investigators say additional arrests are possible.
Key takeaways
- A teenager has been arrested: Tallahassee police arrested a 15-year-old boy on 11 counts of attempted homicide and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent.
- The shooting injured 11 people: Six victims were children, including an 11-year-old. Six victims remained hospitalized, one in critical condition, according to police.
- The investigation remains open: Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a dispute among people who knew one another. Police said additional arrests were possible.
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with a shooting that wounded 11 people near FAMU’s Bragg Memorial Stadium after the school’s homecoming football game, the Tallahassee Police Department said Sunday.
The suspect, Anthony Rivers III, was arrested on Oct. 25 and charged with 11 counts of attempted homicide and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent, according to Alicia Hill, a police spokeswoman.
The shooting occurred late Saturday, Oct. 24, on Perry Street behind Bragg Stadium, turning a homecoming weekend into a scene of violence and sending victims to area hospitals.
At least 12 people were injured, including 11 who were shot, according to police. Six of the victims were children, and the youngest was 11 years old, Police Chief Lawrence Revell said. A grandmother of one of the victims was also injured during the panic that followed the gunfire.
Six victims remained hospitalized as of the department’s latest update, including one who was in critical condition. The victims included six males and six females, police said.
Investigators believe the shooting followed a physical altercation and grew out of a dispute between people who knew one another. At a news conference on Monday, Revell said investigators did not believe any of the victims appeared to have been the intended targets.
Although the chief had said at an earlier news conference that investigators believed there was a single shooter, he said Monday that additional arrests remained possible.
Police described the arrest as an important development but emphasized that the investigation was continuing. Detectives have been working to establish what happened before the shooting and identify everyone who may have been involved.
In the hours after the gunfire, the department appealed to the public for cellphone video and information from witnesses. Tips and digital evidence supplied by community members have been important to the investigation, Revell said.
Officers who arrived at the scene moved toward the gunfire to help the wounded before the area had been fully secured, he said.
“What should have been a weekend of celebration in our community instead became a night of fear and violence for the victims and their families,” Revell said Monday.
The arrest does not conclude the investigation, police said. Detectives continue to examine the evidence and seek answers for the victims and their families.
The charges against Rivers are allegations, and the case will proceed through the legal system. Police have not said whether additional suspects will be charged or provided further details about the dispute that preceded the shooting.