An active shooter was on FSU’s campus mid-day Thursday, resulting in two deaths and injuries to six others.. At FAMU, less than five minutes away from the active shooting, students were outraged with the university’s delayed response in notifying the student body.
The mass shooting took place at FSU’s student union at 11:50 a.m. FSUPD responded to the call immediately and sent an alert within five minutes. At that point, students on both campuses were alerted about the shooting through social media, which is overseen by FAMU’s office of Communications, but nothing came directly from FAMU’s Office of Communications until 12:19 p.m.
FAMU students still had to attend classes as professors held lectures.
Amea Smith, a student at FAMU, says that the university’s top priority should always be the safety of students.
“The shooter could have just as easily made their way to FAMU as they did to FSU,” “Once FSU’s situation became known, FAMU should have immediately gone on lockdown as a precaution. The delay in action and perceived lack of urgency made me feel neglected and vulnerable as a student so I can only imagine the fear and frustration my parents felt watching this unfold from a distance.”
At the time of the shooting, there were speculations that there may be three shooters working together, which brought more confusion as to why the campus had not yet gone on lockdown. TPD has confirmed that the shooter, Phoenix Ikner, acted alone.
Students and families were concerned about why the university took two hours to cancel classes when other schools in the area had already gone on lockdown.
An Instagram video posted by Jaybehumble expressed his disappointment regarding the university. He says anything could’ve happened within those two hours.
“Y’all [FAMU] are quick to shut down everything else that’s going on … but there’s an active shooter … across the train tracks from the university.”
A statement was made by Aurea Hughes, the president of FAMU’s chapter of Dream Defenders, demanding that the university take accountability for its delayed response.
The statement reads, “Why did it take so long to respond? What systems need improvement to ensure students’ protection in the future? These are the questions we must ask leadership … Our community gave me hope during those two hours of ambiguity. Despite the lack of direction, students supported each other, shared updates, provided comfort, and created a sense of safety where it was absent.”
The Famuan reached out to FAMU Office of Communication, which referred The Famuann to a letter from the office of interim President Timothy Beard.