Police arrest 15-year-old in FAMU-area shooting; investigation remains open

Tallahassee police have arrested a 15-year-old in the October 24 shooting near Florida A&M University that injured 12 people, including six minors. Anthony Rivers III was arrested Sunday and faces 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent, according to the police department. State Attorney Jack Campbell said Monday that prosecutors plan to move the case to adult court.

What the arrest does—and does not—establish

The arrest is not a finding of guilt. Rivers appeared at a brief hearing Monday and was ordered to remain in custody; the court record reviewed by The Associated Press did not identify an attorney who could respond to the accusations. WCTV reported that his arraignment is scheduled for November 16. Police said the investigation remains open, other people may have been involved and additional arrests are possible.

The victims and the scene

The shooting happened around 8 p.m. near Perry and Manatee streets, beside Bragg Memorial Stadium. Eleven people sustained gunshot wounds, and a grandmother was hurt while fleeing. The injured group includes six adults and six minors; the youngest victim is 11. By Sunday, five people had been released from hospitals, six remained hospitalized and one was in critical condition. Authorities reported no deaths, and no newer comprehensive condition update had been released Monday.

What police say remains preliminary

Police now say their preliminary evidence points to a dispute between people who knew one another before shots were fired. They believe none of the 11 people who were shot was an intended target. That account remains an investigative allegation rather than an established account tested in court. Authorities have not publicly explained what caused the fight or resolved whether anyone else fired a weapon.

The campus and the shooting are not the same thing

The geography still matters. The shooting occurred near FAMU and its stadium, not on the university campus. FAMU’s homecoming football game had ended earlier, but police have not said the game or the university caused the violence. Homecoming is a multigenerational HBCU tradition that brings graduates, families, students and neighbors together; loose language can turn a criminal investigation into stigma aimed at a Black institution and its community.

The new reporting also makes the harm to local children clearer. WCTV said Leon County Schools confirmed that four students from three district schools were injured and that counselors were available for students affected by the shooting. FAMU said it was supporting members of its community who were hurt while continuing to cooperate with investigators. Those responses recognize that the impact moves through classrooms and families even when the incident happened beyond campus boundaries.

Community evidence moves the case forward

Community evidence appears to have mattered. Police said tips and digital material submitted after the shooting were vital to the investigation, while Campbell said surveillance footage captured part of what happened. Investigators are still seeking witnesses and additional video to build a complete timeline rather than treating one arrest as the end of the case.

People with information can call Tallahassee police’s dedicated hotline at 850-891-4610, contact Crime Solvers at 850-574-TIPS or upload photos and video through the department’s evidence portal. Direct evidence can help; circulating unverified identities or theories can harm innocent people and complicate the search for facts.

The Black Angle’s view is that accountability requires patience as well as urgency. Families deserve answers and the public deserves a clear record of how investigators reached them, but a teenager’s arrest cannot substitute for a fair process. The next meaningful developments will be verified changes in victim conditions, any additional arrests, a supported account of who fired and why, and the evidence prosecutors present when the case moves into adult court.