When an armed man opened fire near the union of students at Florida State University on Thursday, killing two and wounding six, for the student Robbie Alhadeff, the tragedy in his campus of Tallahassee took him back to another shooting at school.
Alhadeff’s sister, Alyssa, 14, was one of the 17 people killed in the Massacre of the Parkland High School 2018 in southern Florida.
Alhadeff told ABC News Live that he was very close to Alyssa, who was a first -year student on the way to play university football when she was shot dead on Valentine’s Day.
A family meets outside Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, after a shooting, on February 14, 2018.
Sun Sentinel/Tribune news service through Getty I
On Thursday, Alhadeff said he was walking towards his department when friends began to send him a text message about the shots.
“I ran back to my apartment because I was afraid of the whole situation,” he said.
Alhadeff said he took off at least two weeks of school after his sister was killed. Following Thursday’s shooting, he said his friends are “terrified” to return to class.
“Many of the people with whom I am from Parkland and many go to FSU,” he said. “This is the second time that happens, and no one I know wants to return to school.”
A student kneel on a monument near the scene of a shooting at the Student Center of the Florida State University on April 18, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida.
Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo/Getty Images
“You could end up being killed by learning,” he added.
“I thought this would never happen again,” said Alhadeff, “but continuously continues to happen, and something has to change.”
Robbie Alhadeff, FSU student and brother of Parkland’s victim, Alyssa Alhadeff, talks to ABC News on April 18, 2025.
ABC News
Manuel Oliver, whose 17 -year -old son, Joaquin, was killed in Parkland, told ABC News Live: “I don’t understand how someone could be surprised” by another shooting at school “if we haven’t done anything to stop him.”
“We will continue to fight: these types of events allow us to do more different things, because what we have been trying is not enough,” said Oliver, who has become a defender of arms control.
“You don’t want to be me … So it’s better to get involved,” he said. “You better choose better leaders and request and demand the safety of your children.”
The students celebrate a vigil near the scene of a shooting near the Student Center of the Florida State University, on April 17, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida.
Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo/Getty Images
Fred Guttenberg, whose 14 -year -old daughter Jaime, was killed in Parkland, said that some of Jaime’s former classmates were in the FSU students union when the shots exploded.
“As a father, everything I always wanted after the shooting in the park was to help our children to be safe,” Guttenberg wrote, who has become a arms reform defender, wrote on social networks. “Unfortunately, due to the many people who refuse to do the right things to reduce armed violence, I am not surprised what happened today.”
The suspect in Thursday’s shooting, the 20 -year -old FSU student Phoenix Ikner, was shot by the officers and is expected to survive, authorities said.
A reason is unknown.
The six injured victims are expected to survive, hospital officials said.
The police have not identified the two murdered people, but said they were not students.
FSU has canceled sporting classes and events over the weekend. A vigil is scheduled for Friday at 5 pm
