Evie Fordham | Politics and Health Care Reporter
A college student and a doctor were killed when a gunman opened fire in a Tallahassee, Florida, yoga studio Friday afternoon before the gunman took his own life, authorities said.
The motives of alleged gunman Scott Paul Beierle, 40, are unknown, according to the Tallahassee Police Department Saturday.
Nick Cessna, right, confronts his girlfriend Melissa Hutchinson who rendered aid to some of the victims of a mass shooting November 2, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida. Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images
Nancy Van Vessem, 61, and Maura Binkley, 21, were fatally shot at Hot Yoga Tallahassee, police said. Four other victims were wounded and another victim was pistol whipped, police said. They appeared to have fought against the gunman, Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo said according to CNN.
Some of the victims have already been released from the hospital, police said Saturday.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Floridas Democratic nominee for governor, said he would return to the city Friday in light of the tragedy. (RELATED: Andrew Gillum Fires Staffer Caught Calling White People Crackers)
“Im deeply appreciative of law enforcements quick response to the shooting at the yoga facility in Tallahassee today,” Gillum wrote on Twitter Friday. “No act of gun violence is acceptable. Im in close communication with law enforcement officials and will be returning to Tallahassee tonight.”
His gubernatorial opponent, former Republican congressman Ron DeSantis, also responded to news of the shooting.
“The news of the shooting in Tallahassee is heartbreaking,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter Friday evening. “Casey and I are praying for the families of the victim whose life was tragically taken tonight and those taken to the hospital with injuries.”
Both Van Vessem and Binkley had ties to Florida State University — Van Vessem was a faculty member at FSUs medical school, and Binkley was a senior at FSU, reported NPR.
Emergency personnel stationed outside the HotYoga Studio after a gunman killed one person and injured several others inside on November 2, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida. Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images
Gillum and DeSantis are locked in a neck-and-neck race to be the next governor of Florida as current Republican Gov. Rick Scott campaigns for the Senate.
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