In 60 seconds: Tallahassee police have arrested a 15-year-old in the shooting near Florida A&M University's homecoming game that injured 12 people on Saturday night. The teen, arrested Sunday, faces 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder — and police say more arrests are possible.
- Anthony Rivers III, 15, was arrested Sunday, Oct. 25, and announced Monday by Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell.
- He faces 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent.
- Police say a fight between people who knew each other came before the shots — and none of the victims appears to have been an intended target.
- Of the 12 injured, 11 were shot and one hurt an ankle fleeing; six were minors, including an 11-year-old.
- The investigation stays open: police credit community tips and video, and say additional arrests are possible.
Two days after crowds fled Perry Street in panic, Tallahassee has a name — and, police stress, an arrest is not the end of this case. Here's the thing: for a full day after the shooting, the story was "no one in custody." That changed Monday morning, when Chief Lawrence Revell stood before cameras and announced that detectives had arrested a 15-year-old on Sunday.
Read our earlier coverage: 12 Hurt, 6 of Them Kids, in Shooting After FAMU's Homecoming Game — and Police Still Have No One in Custody
Inside Bragg Memorial Stadium, where FAMU had hosted its homecoming game hours before the shooting. Photo: Mjrmtg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
What happened
The shooting happened around 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, near Perry and Manatee streets, just behind Bragg Memorial Stadium, as crowds were leaving FAMU's homecoming celebration. Earlier that day, the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff had beaten the FAMU Rattlers 31-28 at the stadium. Police have not said whether the shooting was connected to the game itself.
On Monday morning, Revell announced the arrest at a hastily arranged press conference. The suspect, Anthony Rivers III, was arrested Sunday, Oct. 25, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, which names minors when they are charged with violent offenses. The charges — 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent — were filed after consultation with the State Attorney's Office, police said.
These are charges, not convictions. Nothing in the police announcement establishes guilt, and the case will now move through the juvenile justice process.
Latest verified facts
Here's what police have now confirmed, and what still isn't settled:
| Detail | What police say |
|---|---|
| Arrest | Anthony Rivers III, 15, arrested Sunday, Oct. 25; announced Monday, Oct. 26 |
| Charges | 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder; 1 count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent |
| Charging decision | State Attorney Jack Campbell: charged as an adult, to be transferred to Leon County Detention Facility; first court appearance Mon, Oct. 26, secure detention ordered |
| Injured | 12 total — 11 shot, 1 ankle injury while fleeing; 6 minors including an 11-year-old; no deaths |
| Hospital status | By Sunday morning: 5 released, 6 still hospitalized, 1 in critical condition |
| What came first | A physical altercation between people who knew each other, police say |
| Still open | Additional arrests possible; whether the shooting ties to homecoming events is unclear |
One detail shifted since the first night: hours after the shooting, Revell had said detectives believed there was a single shooter. On Monday he said additional arrests are possible — a sign, at least, that detectives aren't treating one arrest as the whole story.
"What should have been a weekend of celebration in our community instead became a night of fear and violence for the victims and their families," Revell said. "While this arrest marks a significant step forward, our work is far from over."
Police credited community tips and video submissions as vital to identifying the suspect, and said officers and investigators had worked around the clock since Saturday night.
Why it matters
This was one of the worst shootings in Tallahassee's recent history — 12 people hurt outside a college stadium on homecoming night, half of them children. The arrest matters because it answers the question that hung over the whole weekend: would anyone be held accountable at all? But it also matters for what it doesn't answer yet. Police still haven't said how the teen allegedly got the gun, what exactly the fight was about, or whether anyone else pulled a trigger.
And there's a harder question underneath: a 15-year-old now faces 11 attempted-murder counts. That question got its first answer on Monday: State Attorney Jack Campbell said Rivers will be charged as an adult and moved from the Juvenile Assessment Center to the Leon County Detention Facility. At his first court appearance on Monday, Leon Circuit Judge Andrew Sheeran ordered him held in secure detention while the case is pending, and signed a no-contact order covering the victims and witnesses.
Impact on the USA and the world
For Tallahassee, the arrest brings a measure of relief to families who spent Sunday waiting for news — but not closure. Six people remain in hospital, one in critical condition, and the victims' families still don't have a full account of what happened on Perry Street.
Nationally, the shooting landed in a grim context: CNN, citing the Gun Violence Archive, notes at least 383 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, counting incidents in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter. FAMU, a historically Black university with nearly 10,000 students, had staged homecoming events all week; the university said its "hearts are with the victims and everyone affected by tonight's incident on Perry Street."
What happens next
Our take: watch three things. First, the adult-court case itself — now that Campbell has said Rivers will be charged as an adult, the next steps are arraignment, the evidence the State Attorney puts forward, and how the defense responds. Second, whether police do make further arrests; Revell pointedly left that door open, which suggests detectives are still working through video and witness accounts. Third, the victims: six people still hospitalized is the number that matters most, and any update on the one critical patient would change the tone of this story fast.
We will update this coverage if police announce further arrests, if the adult-court proceedings take a new turn, or if the victims' conditions change materially. Until then, the honest summary is this: one arrest, an adult-charge decision, 12 victims, and a case police say is far from over.
Sources: Tallahassee Police Department press conference, Monday, Oct. 26, 2026 (via CNN, Tallahassee Democrat, PEOPLE); Tallahassee Democrat, "Police arrest 15-year-old boy in Tallahassee mass shooting," Oct. 26, 2026; CNN, "Police arrest 15-year-old after 11 shot near Florida A&M University stadium," Oct. 26, 2026; Tallahassee Democrat, "Prosecutor: 15-year-old will be charged as an adult after mass shooting," Oct. 26, 2026 (State Attorney Jack Campbell; first court appearance before Leon Circuit Judge Andrew Sheeran).