Police say 12 people were injured and the investigation remains ongoing
Tallahassee Police Department detectives arrested Anthony Rivers III, 15, on Sunday, and the department announced the arrest in a Facebook post on Monday. The arrest followed Saturday’s shooting near the Florida Agricultural + Mechanical University campus in Tallahassee. The shooting injured 12 people.
The shooting occurred at a college homecoming party. The gunfire took place just before 8 p.m. Saturday at an intersection near FAMU’s Bragg Stadium, where a homecoming football game had just ended. Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said officers were on the scene quickly and carried some of those injured to safety through a mass of people.
Tallahassee police said all but one of the injured people sustained gunshot wounds. In an earlier update, the department said three victims were seriously wounded, one was in critical condition in the hospital, nine others had gunshot wounds, and another person sustained an ankle injury while attempting to escape the gunfire.
According to police, Rivers opened fire after an altercation between two groups of people who knew each other. Revell said none of those struck was believed to have been an intended target.
Police typically do not identify criminal suspects who are minors, but the department said the severity of the charges against Rivers made him an exception. Rivers faces 11 charges of attempted second-degree murder and one charge of possession of a firearm by a delinquent, police said.
In a statement, Revell said, “While this arrest marks a significant step forward, our work is far from over. We remain committed to holding those responsible accountable and getting answers for every family [affected] by this tragedy.”
“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. Revell also said the investigation into Saturday’s shooting was ongoing and that further arrests were possible.
On Sunday, Revell thanked members of the community who came forward with cellphone video of the shooting and its aftermath, describing the video as “vital to investigative efforts.”
FAMU president Marva Johnson posted a video message on X on Sunday, condemning the “senseless and despicable” violence from the previous night. “As a neighbor and community partner, we are providing our full assistance to the Tallahassee police department,” Johnson said. She added, “Our pride, our identity, and our future will not be defined by the challenges we face, but how we respond to them together.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the shooting was among five mass shootings over the weekend — cases in which at least four victims were wounded or killed. The archive, a nonpartisan resource, had recorded 386 such cases in the US for the year so far.