FSU shooting victim Elijah Velez from South Florida

Miramar man, 2 others shot by FSU alumnus Myron May early Thursday morning

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ā€“ One of three students wounded by a Florida State University alumnus who returned to campus and opened fire at the main library is from South Florida.

Elijah Velez, 18, of Miramar, was one of three students shot by 2005 graduate Myron May at the Robert Manning Strozier Library early Thursday morning. Tallahassee police said Friday Velez was grazed by a bullet and treated at the scene.

The other victims, identified as Nathan Scott, 30, of Tallahassee, and Farhan Ahmed, 21, of Apopka, were being treated at a hospital.

FSU President John Thrasher visited Scott in the hospital.

"He was in good spirits," Thrasher told Local 10 News reporter Michael Seiden.

Police shot and killed May early Thursday morning. Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo said May and officers exchanged more than 30 shots.

A first-floor window at the library where May opened fire remained boarded up Friday morning after it was shattered by bullets.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to look at the library the same way again, knowing what happened," FSU junior Zachary Gillis said as classes resumed Friday morning.

Thrasher, who has only been on the job for two weeks, greeted students as they entered the library Friday. Seiden asked him what he thought of the news that the shooter was an alumnus.

"I don't like it, but it could've been anybody," Thrasher said.

He said it was important that the shooting not "bring down the university or bring down the students who want to use this incredible resource."

Two weeks prior to the shooting, FSU police took part in a special training tailored specifically for events like the one that unfolded on campus.

There was an increased police presence on campus Friday as students tried to carry on with their lives.

"Hopefully, it will calm some of the students' nerves and some of the fears that they may have," FSU Police Chief David Perry said. "But we just want to be around to help them."

May graduated from FSU in 2005 and later earned a law degree from Texas Tech University. He had been working as an attorney in New Mexico as recently as September.

According to a television station in New Mexico, May abruptly resigned from his job in September. A month before his resignation, May filed a Las Cruces police report in which he claimed he was "certain" there was a camera inside his apartment and that he could hear voices talking about what he was doing.

In October, May's ex-girlfriend filed a police report in which she said he was rambling about being under surveillance.

DeLeo said May kept journals and videos "where he expressed fears of being targeted and that he wanted to bring attention to this issue."

May's former classmate at FSU told the ABC affiliate in Washington that May contacted him and seven others Saturday asking them for their addresses with the intent to send them something.

It wasn't until May was identified as the shooter that Joe Paul realized the package likely had to do with Thursday's campus shooting.

"I put two and two together that he asked for our information, because maybe he was sending us a manifesto," Paul said. "I don't know what he was sending."

Investigators are now focused on the content of those packages that they hope might shed clues about what prompted the shooting.

Abigail Taunton, who was renting May a guest house in a town about 90 miles southwest of Tallahassee, said he left Sunday, telling her he was going to see friends.

"I don't think anybody that knows Myron would tell you that they expected this," Taunton said.

Inside the house were boxes, a bedroom in disarray and a half-full pill bottle containing a drug commonly used to treat anxiety and nervousness.

"We had no indication of it," Taunton said. "None."

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