A 15-year-old boy will be charged as an adult after 11 people were shot near Florida A&M University's Bragg Memorial Stadium following the school's homecoming football game, Tallahassee police said on Monday, in a Florida A&M shooting that turned a weekend of celebration into a night of fear. Six of those wounded were minors, the youngest just 11 years old, and at least three people suffered serious injuries.
Anthony Rivers III, 15, was arrested on Sunday and faces 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent, the Tallahassee Police Department said. At a brief court hearing on Monday, a judge ordered him to remain in custody, and State Attorney Jack Campbell said prosecutors will move the case to adult court.
The shooting erupted at about 8 p.m. on Saturday near the corner of Perry and Manatee streets, close to Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, only hours after Florida A&M's homecoming game. Florida A&M lost that game to the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 31-28, and the streets around the stadium were packed with people leaving the game and the wider homecoming celebration.
Police said a physical altercation between individuals who knew each other took place before shots were fired. Investigators believe the dispute was isolated, involving only a few people, but the gunfire spread into a crowd that had nowhere easy to run. Eleven people were struck by bullets. A grandmother of one of the victims was injured while running away, bringing the total number of people hurt to 12.
The area was so crowded that ambulances could not get through, Police Chief Lawrence Revell said. Officers carried the wounded through the crowds to emergency vehicles so they could be taken to hospitals. On Sunday, police said six people were in hospital, including one person in a critical condition, and five people had been released. At least three victims suffered serious injuries, authorities said.
A surveillance camera captured some of the shooting, Campbell said, but investigators are searching for more video and want to talk with witnesses to piece together exactly what happened. Video shared on social media showed people fleeing in terror as the celebration broke apart.
Homecoming at Florida A&M University, a historically Black university in Tallahassee, is one of the biggest weekends of the year for the school and the surrounding community. Alumni return, families gather, and the football game draws a large crowd that spills into the streets around the stadium long after the final whistle.
That scale is part of why Saturday's shooting was so dangerous. When gunfire broke out, the victims were not in an empty street. They were among families, students and visitors leaving a celebration, and police said the crowd itself slowed the emergency response. Officers on foot had to carry victims out because vehicles could not reach them.
Florida A&M University told members of its campus community to stay away from the area after the shooting. The university described the shooting as having occurred near campus and said the campus itself remained safe. It added, in a statement: "Our hearts are with the victims and everyone affected by tonight's incident on Perry Street."
The case also arrives in a wider national debate about teenagers, guns and accountability. Charging a 15-year-old as an adult is a major decision, and it means the teenager could face adult penalties if convicted. At the same time, police have stressed that the investigation is still in its early stages: the arrest warrant and affidavit were sealed at police request, court records did not immediately show whether Rivers has a lawyer, and detectives have not publicly described a motive beyond the fight that preceded the shooting.
According to the Tallahassee Police Department, the sequence began with a fight, not with a planned attack on the crowd. The people involved in the altercation knew each other, police said, and the dispute was between a small number of individuals. "At this stage of the investigation, none of the victims appear to have been the intended targets," Revell said.
That detail matters for how the public understands the shooting. It does not make the injuries less serious, and it does not answer how a teenager came to have a gun at a crowded homecoming celebration. But it does explain why police are still looking for other people who may have been involved, and why they say more arrests are possible as the investigation unfolds.
Detectives arrested Rivers on Sunday, a day after the shooting. He was then held for a first court appearance on Monday, where Judge Andrew T. Sheeran ordered him to remain in secure detention and to have no contact with the victims while the case is pending. Prosecutors will seek to move the case into adult court, Campbell confirmed.
"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," Police Chief Lawrence Revell said in a statement announcing the arrest.
"While this arrest marks a significant step forward, our work is far from over," Revell added. "We remain committed to holding those responsible accountable and getting answers for every family impacted by this tragedy."
Florida A&M University's message to its community was shorter and focused on the victims. "Our hearts are with the victims and everyone affected by tonight's incident on Perry Street," the university said, while urging people to stay away from the area in the immediate aftermath.
Campbell, the state attorney, was careful about what he could say publicly, noting that the judge had sealed the arrest warrant and affidavit. He confirmed the charges and the plan to prosecute Rivers as an adult, and he appealed for witnesses and video that could help investigators reconstruct the moments before and during the shooting.
The shooting matters first because of who was hurt. Six children were among the victims, and the youngest was 11. A homecoming celebration is supposed to be a family event, and the fact that children were caught in gunfire that police say was not aimed at them underlines how quickly a private dispute can become a public tragedy when a gun is present in a crowd.
It matters second because of the decision to charge a 15-year-old as an adult. That choice will shape the teenager's future, the penalties he could face, and the public debate that follows. Supporters of adult prosecution in serious cases argue that the gravity of wounding 11 people demands it. Others will ask whether a teenager should be judged in the adult system, and whether the adults and systems around him failed to keep a gun out of his hands.
It matters third because of what it says about safety at large public gatherings. Universities, cities and police departments across the United States regularly plan for crowds at football games, festivals and homecoming weekends. Saturday's shooting, and the difficulty ambulances had reaching victims through the crowd, will feed into those planning discussions in Tallahassee and beyond.
Investigators will continue to gather video, interview witnesses and test whether anyone else was involved in the fight or the shooting. Police have said explicitly that further arrests are possible, so Rivers' arrest may not be the last step in the investigation.
In court, prosecutors will move to transfer the case to adult court, where Rivers will face 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and the firearm count. Future hearings will address legal representation, the sealed warrant and affidavit, and whether he remains in custody as the case proceeds. No trial date has been announced.
For the victims, the next steps are medical and personal. Several people remained in hospital on Sunday, including one person in critical condition, and families will be waiting for updates that police have not yet released in full. Florida A&M and the Tallahassee community will also face the longer work of restoring confidence in homecoming weekends that are meant to bring people together, not send them running for safety.
Eleven people were hit by gunfire, and a 12th person was injured while fleeing, Tallahassee police said. Six of those hurt were minors.
Anthony Rivers III, 15, was arrested on Sunday. He faces 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent.
Yes, according to State Attorney Jack Campbell, who said prosecutors will move the case to adult court. A judge ordered Rivers to remain in custody at his first hearing on Monday.
The shooting happened at about 8 p.m. on Saturday near Perry and Manatee streets, just outside Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, hours after Florida A&M's homecoming game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Police said no. Investigators believe a fight between people who knew each other came first, and that none of the victims appear to have been the intended targets. More arrests are possible.
Related coverage on US News Pulse: DOJ charges green-card holders with illegal voting in 5 states ahead of midterms, James Comey third criminal case: DOJ accuses ex-FBI chief of leaking in 2016, and Supreme Court SNAP payments block extended as shutdown deal heads to House vote.
Leave a Comment
| Today's Date:
