Twelve people were shot or hurt blocks from Florida A&M's football stadium Saturday night, and six of the victims were children.
Tallahassee's Democratic city leadership had spent the lead up to Homecoming Week promising extra patrols and a zero tolerance approach to exactly this kind of violence.
None of it stopped a fight between two or three people from turning into a crowd of bleeding kids.
Tallahassee Shooting Erupts During FAMU Homecoming Week Near Bragg Memorial Stadium
Police say the gunfire started around 8 p.m. at the corner of Perry and Manatee streets, a short walk from Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said 12 people were hurt, 11 of them from gunshot wounds.
One victim remained in critical condition, two more were seriously injured, and eight were listed as stable.
The youngest victim was 11 years old.
Revell said his officers moved in while the scene was still active and carried victims to safety themselves.
"It is especially heartbreaking to know that children are among those injured," Revell said.
Investigators believe a fight between two or three people triggered the gunfire, and as of the department's last update, nobody had been arrested.
Florida A&M said the campus itself was not the scene of the shooting and asked the public to steer clear of the area so detectives could work.
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey called it "a truly horrific and heartbreaking tragedy" and said the community stands with the FAMU family.
Dailey, like most of Tallahassee's city government, is widely identified as a Democrat, though the city's elections are officially nonpartisan.
This Is Not the First HBCU Homecoming Shooting at FAMU
This is the second time in four years that gunfire has torn through a FAMU gathering tied to a major event on campus.
In November 2022, a gunman opened fire into a crowded outdoor basketball court on FAMU's campus, killing one man and wounding four other people.
FAMU is far from alone.
Lincoln University's homecoming was hit by a mass shooting that left one dead and six injured.
Tennessee State University saw a fatal shooting near its campus tied to homecoming crowds.
Mississippi's HBCU homecoming season has been marred by shootings at multiple schools in back to back years, prompting Mississippi Valley State and Delta State to announce extra security specifically because of what happened at other campuses.
Atlanta's HBCUs beefed up security years ago after a string of homecoming shootings made national headlines.
Tallahassee police have publicly promoted a zero tolerance safety push ahead of FAMU homecoming for years running, with road closures, extra patrols, and public safety summits bringing together police, faith leaders, and community groups.
The pattern now stretches far enough that it has a name among people who cover it: deadly homecoming weekend.
Why HBCU Homecoming Shootings Keep Happening Every Year
Kids are in the hospital tonight, and the honest answer is that nobody who studies this pattern should be surprised.
Large, loosely controlled street crowds gathered blocks away from a stadium's actual security perimeter create exactly the conditions where a personal dispute turns into a mass casualty event.
Metal detectors and police at the gate do nothing for people packed onto a public street corner a few blocks away, which is precisely where this shooting happened.
Year after year, the public safety message from Democrat-run cities and their universities is the same: extra patrols, zero tolerance, coordinated law enforcement.
The shootings keep happening anyway, because the guns and the grudges are already inside the crowd before the first patrol car ever shows up.
That gap between the promise and the outcome is worth asking about out loud, not burying under condolence statements.
A group of children paid for that gap this weekend.
Sources:
- Michael Sinkewicz, "Florida A&M University shooting leaves 12 injured, including 6 children, near football stadium," Fox News, October 25, 2026.
- "1 dead, 4 injured after shooting at Florida A&M basketball court," CBS12, November 28, 2022.
- "New details emerge in deadly gang shooting on FAMU's campus," WCTV, December 15, 2022.
- "Deadly Homecoming Weekend Prompts HBCUs to Rethink Campus Safety Plans," Capital B News via Yahoo News.
- "1 dead, 6 injured in mass shooting at Lincoln University homecoming event," AOL News.
- "Mississippi Valley State and Delta State will increase security after shootings at homecoming events in other places," Mississippi Today, October 16, 2025.
- "Law enforcement ramps up safety amid FAMU homecoming week," WCTV, October 15, 2025.
