Reid Seybold’s voice shook as he recalled the texts he sent loved ones from the classroom where he barricaded himself, as a barrage of gunshots, screams and sirens turned his university from a picturesque Florida campus into a crime scene.
“I love you,” he wrote to his boyfriend and family. “I may never see you again.”
Evidence markers have since been cleared from the lawns and walkways of Florida State University, where shell casings were scattered when the son of a local sheriff’s deputy gunned down victims, killing two people and injuring six others on Thursday.
But as students get ready to return to campus, where the echoes of the tragedy still linger, many fear it’s too soon.
Classes are set to resume Monday, but the university will be offering remote options and waiving mandatory attendance to allow students more time to process the tragedy, Richard McCullough, the university’s president, announced Saturday night.
Hours earlier, McCullough had initially said classes were to resume on Monday, with students having the option to reach out to staff members if they didn’t feel ready to do so. The announcement was met with outrage.