TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Saturday night was an opportunity for the community to come together and honor the lives lost and those wounded at Florida State University.
The past few days, FSU students, staff, and members in the community have been through a roller coaster of emotions, some having to fight for their lives, others losing loved ones, and many trying to make sense of it all.

Ever since Thursday’s deadly mass shooting, multiple vigils and gatherings on and off campus have helped bring the Seminole community closer together.

Students leaned on one another for support as they made their way back onto campus.

FSU students Ashley Boudreaux and Tyler Doherty recalled the overwhelming emotions that struck the morning of the shooting.
“I’ve really struggled with trying to process it, and I’ve gone back and forth between feeling numb and crying and being angry and just not really knowing how to make sense of it,” said Ashley Boudreaux, a junior at FSU. “We went to the vigil yesterday, and I think that was the first moment that I could really kind of have it hit me and begin to process a bit.”

Boudreaux and many of her peers are grateful to be surrounded by each other at this time, hoping to get through this together as a family.

“I don’t think there’s any other way to work through this as a community, sitting through this together and also paying respect to those who were injured, those who were nearby, and those who passed,” said Boudreaux.

With graduation and finals right around the corner, students shared mixed emotions about what lies ahead.
“Everyone’s processing this very differently, and so I know that there are definitely some people who are ready to go back to a sense of normalcy and get back to classes, try and complete all their assignments and get back into the groove of things,” Tyler Doherty, a sophomore at FSU said. “But for each person that’s ready to do that, there’s also someone that just doesn’t have the mental, emotional, physical capability to be able to do that right now.”

FSU President Richard McCullough shared in a post on X that classes and business operations will resume on Monday.

While some students expressed concerns with that decision, McCullough promised that the university and its staff will be flexible for those who may not be able to return.