Catholic students at Florida State University (FSU) have been praying and helping their classmates in the midst of a massive shooting on the campus on Thursday, said a leader of the Ministry at the CNA Study Center, an English agency of Ewtn News.
At least two people have died and several were injured after the shooting on the Tallahassee, Florida (United States) campus. The authorities reported that the shooter was arrested after the incident. According to reports, the shooting took place in the Student Union of the Campus or in its immediate vicinity.
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Sam Nunnally, director of the Catholic Ministry of the University Campus, informed CNA by email that the parish and facilities of the Ministry “are right in front of the FSU Student Union. So we could hear shooting when the incident occurred.”
“Many of the students in that area ran up to the church and remained locked here during the event,” said Nunnally.
The staff of the Ministry of Campus has been serving students food and drink while waiting for the campus to be declared safe, he said.
“Many of our Catholic students have been praying, praying Rosaries and helping to serve other students who came to our facilities,” he said.
In A tweet published Thursday at 2:50 pm (local time), the university told community members that “they continue to protect themselves in the place.”
“The forces of the order are actively dislodging the rooms of the main campus,” said the university. “They continue to protect themselves in the place until the forces of the order get in touch with you.”
Referring to continuous prayer and service in Catholic facilities, Nunnally said that, as director of the Catholic Ministry, “it gives me great joy, even in pain, seeing our Catholic students living their faith in real time in the midst of such a serious situation.”
“We hope that Catholics from all over the world to the State University of Florida, the Concatedral of St. Thomas Moore and the Catholic Noles,” he said.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee said that the Diocesan community was “disconsolate by what happened” at school.
“The shooting occurred just a few hundred meters from our Concatedral of St. Thomas More, which has been a ministerial support space for FSU students for several decades,” said the diocese.
“We pray for the eternal rest of the people who lost their lives,” continues the statement. “We ask the Lord to grant peace and healing to all those affected by this terrible situation.”
This story was updated with a statement from the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee and with new information about the FSU shooting.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Daniel Payne
Daniel Payne is a senior editor of Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.