‘It Should Not Happen!’ CNN Speaks to FSU Student Live On The Phone While Sheltering In Place After Mass Shooting

A Florida State University student spoke with CNN as he was sheltered in place in response to a mass shooting that had just occurred on campus.

The shooting was first reported shortly after noon ET. FSU sent out an alert to student’s phones shortly after shots were heard. In the alert, students were advised to shelter in place as police responded to a report of an active shooter at the Student Union.

At the time of writing, a suspect was taken into custody and at least four people were hospitalized.

On CNN News Central, university student Garrett Harvey spoke to Boris Sanchez and Erica Hill as he was sheltered with others. At the time, police were continuing their campus-wide search and preparing to evacuate students.

Recalling the moment he knew something bad was happening nearby, Harvey said:

I was about to go downstairs to the building I was in. I noticed people were running across the street — which is not usual — and then there was police sirens going on; and when I kept seeing more people running and more people running across the street, I knew there was something going wrong. So that’s when I decided, you know, it was best to shelter in place. I closed the door, and then that’s when the alert was issued. It was a very — the alert was issued really quickly. I would say about — I saw it and it was about a minute or so, so the alert time was very quick by FSU.

Harvey also explained that the Student Union is very active around the time the shooting took place, with students filling in to eat, study, or participate in a variety of other activities. He revealed that he actually works at the Student Union, but he was off the day of the shooting.

Asked if he ever imagined being in situation like that, Harvey added:

Yeah, no, it’s no situation that anyone should be dealing with, no matter what. I mean, it’s just — you shouldn’t have to think about that when you’re going to school trying to get your degree, because I’m graduating in two weeks and it’s just — I mean, in general, it should not happen to anyone, no matter what. So that’s the main takeaway is that, you know, you go to school to get your degree, make friends, make memories. You’re not supposed to go to school to experience stuff like this.

Watch above via CNN