TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Florida State University alumnus and attorney who shot three people at the school's library early Thursday believed the government was targeting him for persecution and detailed his thoughts in a journal and in videos, authorities said.
Officers fatally shot Myron May, 31, during an exchange outside the library about 12:30 a.m. May reloaded at least once and tried to enter the library, where about 450 students were studying for midterm exams, but he was blocked by lobby security barriers that permit only students and staff members inside, Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo said.
"Based on our initial review of the documents and his videos and his postings, it's clear that Mr. May's sense of being and place in our community was not what most people would refer to as normal," DeLeo said. "He had a sense of crisis, and he was searching for something."
The shooting sent students scrambling for cover in the book aisles. They barricaded themselves in with desks.
"I ran for my life," said Allison Kope, a freshman from Cocoa Beach, who was on the library's first floor. "I ran right out the back door. My laptop and everything is still in there. It was shock. It was just instinct. You don't think about anything else, you just go."
One person was reported in critical condition later Thursday, and one was in good condition. The third was treated at a hospital and released.
May's Facebook page shows that he posted mostly Bible verses and links to conspiracy theories about the government reading people's minds.
Records show May was licensed to practice law in Texas and New Mexico.
According to a Las Cruces, N.M., police report last month, May was the subject of a harassment complaint after a former girlfriend reported that he went to her home uninvited and claimed that police were bugging his house and car. Danielle Nixon told police that May recently developed "a severe mental disorder."
"Myron began to ramble and handed her a piece to a car and asked her to keep it because this was a camera that police had put in his vehicle," the report said.
The report also said May recently quit his job and was on medication.
No charges were filed.
Abigail Taunton, who runs a foster home in the Florida Panhandle, said May was staying at a guesthouse she owns.
"He's just a boy our kids grew up with that we let stay in one of our guesthouses for a while," she said. "He's moving back home from Texas, and we were trying to help him get on his feet."
"We're just all astounded. We had no idea that he would do something like this," Taunton said. "Obviously, he was not in his right mind."
She said she had known him since he was 13 or 14 and that he ran cross-country track with her kids and stayed at her house a lot. She said he had lived with his grandmother after getting out of a "bad situation" with his parents. He was born in Dayton, Ohio.
More recently, she said, "he was having some financial issues and moved back home and decided he'd come back to Florida to work."
The shooting prompted a campus alert that urged students to take shelter and stay away from doors and windows.
Within one minute of receiving the call about a gunman on campus, police arrived at the scene, and two minutes after the call, officers shot May, university Police Chief David Perry said. DeLeo said more than 30 rounds were fired by May and the officers.
Officers from Tallahassee and the Florida State police confronted May just outside the library in the middle of campus and ordered him to drop his handgun. He fired a shot at them, and they unleashed a volley of shots, Tallahassee police spokesman Dave Northway said.
Hours after the shooting, detectives still could be seen inspecting May's body, which was facedown at the top of a ramp just outside the library.
The university canceled classes Thursday but said they would resume today. The library was also to reopen today.
Florida State President John Thrasher was in New York City at the time of the shooting but returned to campus later Thursday.
"We're going to get back to normal tomorrow," Thrasher said. "We're moving ahead. We're continuing to pray for the victims and pray for Florida State University, but we're going to get through this with the great family we have."
Gov. Rick Scott had been in South Florida for a meeting with other Republican governors. He returned to Tallahassee where he met with Thrasher.
"The police investigation will answer many of the questions we are asking today. But just like any tragedy, the ultimate question of why, we'll never have an answer that satisfies those whose loved ones have been injured," Scott said.
Information for this article was contributed by Russell Contreras and Jeff McMurray of The Associated Press.
A Section on 11/21/2014