TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Friday marks the one year anniversary of a shooting that injured three people on the campus of Florida State University.
In the aftermath of the shooting, FSU has help paralyzed-from-the-waist-down student Ronny Ahmed get an apartment on campus, a vehicle he can operate and given him leeway in his attendance at the engineering school. FSU President John Thrasher's handling of the crisis earned him a raise and bonus.
Recommended Videos
The gunman was already dead and the injured were being treated when Thrasher got the call about the shooting around 1 a.m. Just 10 days on the job, the new president was in New York City on his first fundraising trip.
"Gosh, I was shocked," Thrasher said. "It was a heartbreaking, almost surreal feeling. Why? Why is this happening on our campus at Florida State University?"
By 10 a.m., the new president was back on campus. Plans to heal were already being made, including opening Strozier Library, the scene of the shooting, the very next day.
"We try to not let that kind of thing pull the university down in a way that would be a negative," Thrasher said.
He credits his police chief and officers for minimizing the destruction and keeping students from being killed.
"Certainly the training the officers had -- that was helpful," Thrasher said. "We know we've expanded that to other members of our police force."
Safety is now a topic just about every time Thrasher talks to students, faculty and staff. The FSU shooter had been deteriorating mentally for months.
"We have some places people can go for help, and get positive help. But we have to have some help sometimes to identify who those folks are, from students, from roommates, from faculty," Thrasher said.
The shooting hasn't kept people from wanting to attend Florida State. Already, 30,000 people have applied for 6,000 slots this coming fall.
Overall, Thrasher said FSU is a safe place.
"I think we've healed to some extent, but we never forget," he said.