A sea of garnet, black and gold stretched across Langford Green park on the Florida State University campus Friday.
Although the cloudless sky was perfectly blue, the air was heavy.
With each passing row, the crowd of over 2,000 shared tissues, leaned on one another’s shoulders and confided in embraces. Sniffles and whispers wove between periods of utter silence.
Two people were killed and six others injured Thursday after a student identified as the 20-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy opened fire near the student union.
The FSU community gathered in solidarity late Friday for a candlelight vigil in front of the campus "Unconquered" statue.
Community members came to mourn, to support one another or simply to begin processing what had happened just one day earlier.
FSU President Richard McCullough tearfully opened the ceremony, and said, “Trauma does not define us.”
Midway through, FSU Interfaith Council President Jay Winters read from Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
Student Body President Carson Dale followed, and reminded the crowd, “there’s light even in the darkest of times.”
Vice President for Student Affairs Amy Hecht encouraged students to check in on one another in the days ahead.
Among those still processing the trauma were pairs of students who survived the shooting together. Each recounted their experiences – reflecting on the fear, confusion and aftermath of Thursday.
During the vigil, FSU campus employees Robert Morales, 57, and Tiru Chabba, 45, were identified as the two deceased victims. All six wounded are expected to make a full recovery, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare staff said Friday.
As time passed, the "Unconquered" statue’s fence slowly became adorned with crosses, flowers, balloons, lit candles, stuffed animals and handwritten letters.
While some students escaped the student union, others were forced to shelter in place elsewhere on campus – including a pair who locked themselves inside a physics lab as chaos unfolded nearby.
Mia Medney, 21, an FSU behavioral neuroscience senior, survived the shooting by barricading herself for over two hours alongside her teaching assistant, Georgia Nissen, 23, an FSU graduate physics freshman.
“It just felt like time stopped a little bit,” Medney said. “Everyone was calling their parents and texting their loved ones. It’s one of those things that you never foresee you will be experiencing.”
Nissen said the weight of the experience didn’t fully hit her until she was safe at home, where she felt anger, grief and sadness.
“I felt very calm during the situation,” she said. “But as soon as I was able to get home – bawling my eyes out. Every single emotion that I was hiding during the event, it all came out.”
During the vigil, Medney said she was struck by the collective presence and focus of the crowd – something she rarely sees in day-to-day campus life.
“Very few people were on their phones,” Medney said. “In today's day and age, that's all everyone is doing. Everyone was consistently paying attention. This is one of the most powerful things I've ever been to in my entire life.”
When asked what she hopes changes going forward – at FSU or nationally – Nissen said she wants more people to understand these events can happen anywhere, at any time.
“I never wanted to think, ‘Oh, I’m going to campus today and there’s going to be an active shooter,’” she said. “You don’t think of that stuff.”
As the ceremony came to a close, the Marching Chiefs played the university’s alma mater. Students swayed gently, many still holding candles. It was a final moment of unity in an evening marked by grief, reflection and resilience.
