Congressman and Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds (R-FL) appeared on Fox News' "The Will Cain Show" to talk about the shooting that took place at Florida State University just after noon Eastern. Two victims are deceased (not believed to be FSU students), and six victims were injured and sent to the hospital.
The shooter, who has been identified by law enforcement, is in custody.
Rep. Donalds, an FSU alum, shared his thoughts surrounding the incident before the 4:30 law enforcement press conference, which provided all of the information above.
"First, for all the students there at FSU and those who are injured, our prayers go out to them. My wife and I are alumni of Florida State; we graduated back in '02. Our middle son, our 17-year-old son, he has plans of enrolling at Florida State next fall and going there. And so this one is obviously personal, close to home," said Rep. Donalds. "But what we know now is really kind of what everybody generally knows. Law enforcement on the ground responded rapidly. So there has to be many thanks to the FSU Police Department, who ran into action immediately to get the situation under control. And then for the six individuals who were injured and are now at the hospital, our prayers are with them and with their families. Hopefully, they can fully recover."
Will Cain then asked if Donalds had spoken to law enforcement about the incident.
"No, not at this time. I think right now, it's important for law enforcement to do their jobs, and they're doing that. People have kind of seen the footage throughout social media, but Tallahassee Police Department, FSU Police Department, and the FBI are down there on the ground securing everything and now doing their investigation. So I think it's important that one, we're thankful that so many students were not injured in this attack. For the six that are in the hospital right now, we pray for them," said Rep. Donalds.
He also added, "And then, let law enforcement do its job before we start trying to hypothesize as to motive and everything like that. Let them do their work. And then, I think it's important to see what happens in the aftermath of this. Let's see what the actual motives are, and then make any unnecessary judgments at that time."
When asked about how to address the school shooting epidemic in the United States, Donalds declared that mental health issues are "at its core" one of the main problems in American society.
"I think that one of the things that we do have to take very seriously is making sure that people who are having issues, that that stuff is firmly understood, that they're getting some of the assistance and therapy that they need, so students who are just trying to grow in their lives and their academics don't have to experience [this]."
