Police have identified Myron May as the man who entered the Florida State University (FSU) library and shot and wounded three students early Thursday morning.
According to ABC News, May was an FSU graduate in the class of 2005 before studying law at Texas Tech University. At the time of the shooting, police said May was "in a state of crisis."
May was a foster child born in Dayton, Ohio who moved to Florida as a teenager and went on to attend FSU on multiple scholarships. Leading up to the shooting, his ex-girlfriend reportedly contacted police concerned about his "erratic" behavior, which she saw as potentially self-destructive.
May, 31, encountered the police early Thursday morning outside the FSU library where he was instructed to lay down his weapon. When he fired at police instead, they returned fire, killing him.
Of the three students wounded, two were taken to the hospital, one of whom was in critical condition. There has been no update on that student's condition since.
Tallahassee Police Department Police Chief Michael DeLeo gave a press conference Thursday, the Washington Post reported. DeLeo said May had extensively documented his fears of being watched and targeted, hearing voices of people he believed to be observing and scrutinizing everything he did.
"A preliminary review of these documents and videos demonstrate that Mr. May was in a state of crisis," DeLeo said.
ABC affiliate WSB-TV reported that May sent parcels to eight acquaintances before the shooting, but they apparently have not arrived. Joe Paul, a former classmate with May, said he was included in a group text message with other people he did not know.
Before that, May quit his job in New Mexico and would stay up for days at a time "with no sleep," his ex-girlfriend told ABC News. In one incident in particular, he showed up at her residence and showed her part of his car that he was convinced was bugged. She never felt as though she needed protection from him, but she was certain that May had some sort of mental disorder.
In Sept., May reportedly visited Florida, where his foster parents live about two hours away from Tallahassee. While there, he accompanied them on a fishing trip and even went to see his old high school. Nothing was amiss or seemed off.
"We were happy to see each other, and I thought he was pretty excited to be here," said Jay Bidwell, May's high school football and track coach, told the Post. "He was in a good mood and everything."