At least 12 people, including six children as young as 11, were injured in a mass shooting near a Florida university football stadium during crowded homecoming celebrations.

Eleven victims were struck by gunfire after violence erupted near Florida A&M University’s Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee on Saturday night, sending frightened attendees running for safety.

Three of those wounded suffered serious injuries, including one person who was in critical condition. The other eight shooting victims were listed as stable.

Six juveniles were among the victims, with the youngest reported to be just 11 years old.

A 12th person, the grandmother of one of the victims, was hurt while fleeing in the panic that spread through crowds gathered for the university’s homecoming weekend.

Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell announced the toll during a late-night news conference and said he was struggling to understand how the violence had occurred.

‘I stand before you tonight devastated,’ Revell said.

Investigators said a fight between several individuals may have preceded the shooting, which took place shortly before 8pm near the intersection of Perry and Manatee streets, beside the university’s football stadium.

By the midnight update, no arrests had been made. Authorities had not named any suspects or determined what triggered the confrontation.

The shooting happened soon after Florida A&M’s Rattlers lost their homecoming game to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, while large crowds remained in the surrounding streets.

Videos shared on social media showed the disorder that followed, with police rushing to help the wounded as confusion and panic spread through the area.

In one widely circulated clip, officers carried an injured person through a parking lot on a makeshift stretcher made from cloth.

Another video showed emergency responders using flashlights while treating a person on the ground, with frantic voices audible nearby.

Additional footage showed officers working to manage the crowds as debris and abandoned belongings remained scattered across the streets where people had fled.

‘Everybody ran; everybody cleared off,’ one witness was heard saying in a video.

Revell commended first responders, saying officers had to carry wounded people themselves because emergency vehicles could not get through the densely packed crowds.

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‘We had officers who were picking up victims and carrying them in their arms to transport because they couldn’t get through the mass of people,’ the police chief said.

Witnesses described terrifying moments as families desperately tried to escape the gunfire.

‘Praying for our kids because what I just witnessed at 7:50pm was unbelievable,’ one person wrote on Facebook.

‘My 1st and last homecoming. On God! My kids and their friends were crying and I’m trying to pull other people kids to safety.’

The witness added: ‘This could have been any of our babies.’

Another person described the desperate scramble to survive.

‘Perry St was wild tonight. Running, falling, ducking and hiding,’ they wrote.

A separate witness claimed to have seen people being shot directly in front of them.

‘They literally just shot these ppl in front of me,’ the person wrote. ‘Ya’ll please pray for they families.’

The emergency also prompted neighboring Florida State University to issue a warning advising students, faculty and staff across Tallahassee to remain indoors.

‘At this time, there is no indication that members of the FSU community were involved,’ the university said.

‘As a precaution, students, faculty and staff in the Tallahassee area are advised to remain indoors this evening and stay alert.’

By 9:45pm, Tallahassee police confirmed that the shooting scene had been secured, although the full scale of the carnage would not become clear until hours later.

Florida A&M issued another statement shortly after 11pm expressing its condolences to those affected.

‘Our hearts go out to the victims and all those affected by this tragic incident,’ the university said.

‘While the campus remains safe, individuals are encouraged to avoid the area to allow law enforcement to conduct its investigation.’

A fight at a homecoming party near Florida A&M University in Tallahassee erupted into gunfire Saturday night, injuring 11 people—including six children—according to authorities.

The shooting happened shortly before 8 p.m. on Perry Street near Bragg Memorial Stadium after an altercation involving “two or three individuals,” the Tallahassee Police Department said. Online reports also described the incident as beginning with a fight before shots were fired.

Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said investigators were still working to determine exactly how the confrontation unfolded, but officials believe the violence was limited to a small group. “An altercation occurred between individuals,” Revell said. “We do not know exactly what happened … what we do believe is that this was an isolated incident between two or three individuals.”

The youngest person wounded was 11 years old. One victim remained in critical condition, while three others were listed in serious condition. No deaths were reported. A grandmother was also hurt while trying to escape, bringing the total number of injured people to 12.

Revell said no arrests had been made, as police continued searching for the suspects connected to the Florida A&M University shooting.

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Witnesses described a chaotic scene unfolding as crowds left the football stadium at the historically Black college.

“We heard a couple gunshots and a crowd of people running,” student Jayden Dubois told WCTV. “I had gotten trampled a little bit, but as I got up, I turned to my right and saw a person laid out on the ground.”

Despite the violence, the university said the campus remained safe following the shooting.

“Community members are encouraged to avoid the area while officers conduct their investigation,” the Tallahassee Police Department said in a Facebook post.

The department added, “Our hearts go out to the victims and all those affected by this tragic incident.”

A large fire broke out at a Quaker Oats facility in Iowa on Saturday following what officials described as a possible explosion. Despite the scale of the incident, no one was injured.

Thick smoke and flames rose from the northern section of the plant as firefighters arrived at about 4:45 p.m., according to the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. The facility is considered the largest of its kind in the world.

Fire officials said the blaze began after an explosion inside the building.

Every worker at the site was able to get out safely, and no injuries were reported, Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said in a Facebook post.

O’Donnell explained that the fire started in a section used to handle products where relatively few employees work. “Which of course in this case was a blessing,” she said.

Officials have not said how many people were inside the building when the explosion and fire occurred.

“Firefighting operations were successful in extinguishing most of the fire,” the Cedar Rapids Fire Department said in a statement posted to Facebook.

By approximately 6:25 p.m. local time, crews were still conducting limited interior operations, including final fire suppression and overhaul work.

The cause of the explosion and subsequent fire had not been determined by Saturday night, fire officials said.

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No firefighters were hurt while working to bring the blaze under control.

A witness said the sight of smoke pouring from the plant brought feelings of “terror, sadness [and] worry.”

“Explosions are bad, fires are bad,” Dan Gardner told KCRG.

“Quaker Oats is a staple of this town,” he said. “So we don’t want to see them blow up.”

Emilio Esquivel, who was visiting from Texas, compared the dramatic scene to something from a film.

“Seeing something like that was just like eye opening,” Esquivel told the local station. “It was eyebrow raising. It was crazy.”

According to the company’s website, the Quaker Oats plant is the world’s largest milling facility, processing more than 2 million pounds of oats every day.

The Quaker Oats Company, owned by PepsiCo, is best known for products including its old-fashioned oats.

With Post wires.

A 105-year-old Ohio woman known for her fun-loving, fiery personality has shared the habits she believes helped her live a long life.

Helen Sophis celebrated her 105th birthday on October 10 at Sunrise Senior Living in Cuyahoga Falls, near Cleveland.

Surrounded by friends, Sophis entertained them with jokes, stories from her remarkable life and advice on reaching old age with energy and joy.

Sophis, whose parents were Greek immigrants, told the Akron Beacon Journal that a Mediterranean diet and an active lifestyle were key to her longevity.

“Clean living,” she said, while also crediting her strong sense of humor for helping her through the years.

Her approach to healthy eating began in childhood, when her mother prepared traditional Greek dishes such as moussaka and pastitsio at home.

“Everything was from scratch,” she told the outlet.

Her family also owned a Coney Island restaurant that served hot dogs. Sophis recalled growing tired of serving drunk customers late at night and eagerly waiting for the moment she could send them out, lock the doors and turn the key.

“I sure did,” she said.

Physical activity remained a constant throughout Sophis’ life. In high school, she played basketball and volleyball at West High School, which no longer exists.

She also became the school newspaper’s sports editor—an unusual role for a girl to hold at the time.

Sophis continued playing sports at the University of Akron, taking part in basketball, volleyball and tennis, she told the outlet.

She did not complete her studies, however. Sophis left college after her sister, Amelia, died at age 17, she told the outlet.

She remained active in her working life as well. During World War II, Sophis was employed at a rubber plant, where she helped keep track of inventories.

“I had a man’s job during the war,” she said. “All my work was out in the factory.”

After the war, Sophis moved into an office role at the factory, operating a comptometer—a key-driven mechanical calculator.

She was also a star golfer on the company’s team, where she won several tournaments, she told The Journal. 

However, the one time she hit a hole-in-one, instead of going back to buy a round of drinks, she kept playing the holes. 

‘I said to myself: “How am I going to do that? I can’t afford to buy everybody a drink.” I kept playing and playing, and finally we went in, and everybody had gone home,’ she laughed. 

After retiring from the factory, she got a job at the mall to help supplement her income.  

Sophis’ nursing home friends described the centenarian as a ‘fiesta’ and ‘determined spitfire,’ as well as a ‘wealth of knowledge.’ 

‘But most importantly, she’s a very giving person,’ friend Paul Cincotta told The Journal. 

‘She’s amazing,’ another friend, Jamie Wood, told the outlet. ‘Just a beautiful person … 105? That’s a blessing. And she is a blessing.’ 

Sophis, who was born in 1921, never married, although she did have one boyfriend she dated for many years, so she told the outlet. 

She is the sole survivor of her family, as her brother, John, passed away in 2017 at the age of 94, and her nephew, Stephen, died in 2024 at the age of 60. 

However, the 105-year-old doesn’t consider herself lonely. 

‘I’ve got a lot of good friends, and they include me in a lot of things,’ she told The Journal. 

She plays bingo and makes crafts at the nursing home with her friends, she said. 

As for her old age, she said she feels better than when she was a teenager. 

‘I feel really good. I feel better now than I did when I was 16,’ she said. 

Sophis is one of the oldest women in America, just a smidge behind Naomi Whitehead, who is 116 years old. 

The Pennsylvania woman is believed to be the oldest person living in North America. 

Whitehead has never drunk or smoked, and credits her longevity to good genes and enjoying her hobbies, like baking and cooking.