A grandmother was shot outside a college football game while running away from a teenager with a gun.
That happened in Florida last Saturday.
Ron DeSantis sent cops to FAMU after a 15-year-old shot 12 people – including a grandmother running for her life.
What Happened on Perry Street
FAMU's homecoming weekend draws thousands every year.
Alumni fly in from across the country.
Families come out for the parade, the game, the celebration.
Saturday night, October 24, it ended with 12 people shot near Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Six of them were children.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2112309097982812349?a=mErXbBIvgGOaFH-7cIQ&s=20
The youngest was 11 years old.
The 12th victim wasn't even a target – she was a grandmother of one of the shooting victims, injured while fleeing the gunfire.
Ambulances couldn't get through the crowd.
Officers carried the wounded by hand to reach the emergency vehicles.
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell had two dozen officers already in the area when shots rang out – the department had every officer on duty for the busy weekend.
It wasn't enough to stop it.
It was enough to catch who did it.
Arrested in 24 Hours and Tried as an Adult
By Sunday, 15-year-old Anthony Rivers III was in custody.
By Monday, State Attorney Jack Campbell announced he would be tried as an adult.
Rivers faces 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of firearm possession by a delinquent.
Police say a fistfight between two or three people set it off.
Every single person hit – the children, the grandmother, the FAMU student among the injured – was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Twelve people got shot because a teenager couldn't settle a dispute without a gun.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1995539640124580184?a=iIc01i3TUbCWZgbeqDY&s=20
Florida's answer: adult charges, adult consequences.
No second chances, no juvenile diversion, no "root causes" press conference.
Investigators say additional arrests are possible.
DeSantis Showed Up
While the Left's cities hold vigils, Florida's governor deploys law enforcement.
FAMU President Marva Johnson announced this week that DeSantis stepped in to surge law enforcement onto campus for Saturday's game against Southern – and onto Perry Street itself.
"Thanks to the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis, we will have an increased law enforcement presence on campus to provide additional security and peace of mind for our students, faculty and staff," Johnson said. "This builds on the significant investments we've made in campus safety with funding from the governor and Florida Legislature, strengthening our security technology, infrastructure and law enforcement resources to better protect our FAMU community."
This is not the first time DeSantis has moved fast to protect Florida's HBCUs.
In 2023, after a white supremacist targeted an HBCU in Jacksonville, DeSantis pledged a million dollars to Edward Waters University for security upgrades the same day.
He has since signed legislation expanding armed guardian programs to Florida's college campuses.
When Florida's HBCUs are threatened, DeSantis doesn't schedule a task force.
He sends cops and writes checks.
This Is the Difference
Chicago doesn't do this.
https://twitter.com/mymixtapez/status/2114834772203897097?a=W3IGhr5pYIRcUT89oao&s=20
Portland doesn't do this.
Cities with progressive prosecutors who believe in diversion over accountability hold press conferences about systemic root causes while grandmothers get shot at homecoming games.
Florida had the shooter in custody in under 24 hours, an adult prosecution locked in by Monday, and the governor arranging security for the next game before the week was out.
FAMU's president said what every parent in that stadium was thinking: "We will not be ruled by fear."
That's easy to say when the state behind you actually backs it up.
Florida delivered.
Sources:
- Tarah Jean, "Not be ruled by fear: FAMU president says DeSantis increasing security," Tallahassee Democrat, October 28–29, 2026.
- Fox 10 TV, "TPD: 12 injured in shooting on Perry Street, including 6 minors," October 24–25, 2026.
- Action News Jax, "15-year-old arrested in Florida A&M shooting that wounded 11 after homecoming game," October 26, 2026.
- WTXL, "Teen accused in Tallahassee mass shooting will be tried as an adult," October 27, 2026.
- Florida Phoenix, "DeSantis: 'We're not going to allow our HBCUs to be targets,'" August 2023.
- NBC Miami, "DeSantis signs bill to expand armed guardian program to colleges and universities."
