Police name shooting suspect

FAMU Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of an 18-year-old male in connection to the Feb. 11 shooting in the Student Services Building.

Lt. Louis Wichers said the suspect was identified hours after the shooting that left Gary L. Thomas with a gunshot wound in his left foot.

The warrant for the arrest of James D. Platt was issued Monday.

According to Wichers, Platt is wanted for three felony charges.

“(Platt is wanted for) aggravated battery with a firearm, discharging a firearm on school property, possession of a firearm on school property and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon,” Wichers said in an e-mail to The Famuan.

Wichers said the improper exhibition charge is a misdemeanor.

In the e-mail, Wichers said, “the shooting appears to have been (part of) an ongoing dispute between several individuals.”

Thomas, a student at FAMU, could not be reached for comment.

The shooting started after a fight broke out in the downstairs part of the Student Services Center Feb. 11 during lunchtime.

According to an article in Monday’s Famuan, witnesses on the scene reported seven or eight males beating up one person.

The fight escalated into the shooting, which sent Thomas to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.

Platt is not a student at the University. Any one with information should contact the FAMU Police Department at 599-3296

Contact Alexia R. Robinson at thefamuaneditor@hotmail.com