ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A Florida State University student said she isn’t sure if she’s ready to go back to classes on Monday, just days after the mass shooting that killed two and injured others.
RELATED: FSU Shooting
Many students from the First Coast returned home for Easter weekend. They’re spending time with family as they try to process what happened at the FSU student center.
Sage Toussaint is from St. Augustine, and she’s a junior psychology and pre-med student at FSU. She was in the student union during the tragic events, and she sees the building on the way to many of her classes.
She said her friend was one of the people who were shot.
Thursday started like any other Thursday on campus. She said she sleeps in on Thursdays because she doesn’t have any classes.
But she ran out of coffee and texted a friend who said to meet at the FSU student union building.
They set up one of the high tables near the door and were talking.
“I’m just walking to get my coffee, and I hear people saying shooter, and I freeze for a little bit, and I just don’t know what to do. I still don’t believe it’s real. I’m still with my friend, and then I see him,” Toussaint said.
Students were sent into a panic, they locked and barricaded themselves where they were.
“He’s not running he’s just walking and then I hear all the shots and everyone’s running so I start running out of the door,” Toussaint said.
She and her friend got out of the doors of the student union, but her friend suddenly stopped.
“She looks at me and she doesn’t move,” Toussaint said.
She said she lost her friend in the chaos.
“I just can’t help it. I feel guilty. I could’ve done something different with my friend because I was right with her, and I just keep feeling guilty about that,” Toussaint said.
She ran and called her friend’s phone and she finally picked up.
“She’s just screaming and crying and she’s just saying ‘I got shot. Am I going to die?’ And I’m like ‘No, no you’re not,’” Toussaint said.
She found a locker room and sent a message to her family. Her mother told her that she was going to be fine and to just stay hidden.
“Mom I looked at him and he shot at me,” Toussaint messaged back.
She said it felt like she was in that room forever.
Hours later, police cleared the room she and others were in. She said she went back to her apartment and just sat in silence. She got back in contact with her friend and said they haven’t stopped talking since.
“We called today. We called yesterday. I just wanted to hear her voice besides her on the floor, thinking she wasn’t going to make it and me thinking not knowing what was going on so texting or calling or FaceTiming her,” Toussaint said.
Even though she’s back home in St. Augustine, she said Thursday will leave a lasting impact.
“I know I am safe, but I just look over my shoulder or I get a little panicked,” she said.
Toussaint said she was back home getting coffee again at different place and ordered a different drink.
But it cost the exact same as her order in the student union that day: $5.11
“I don’t know what happened,” Toussaint said, “But I ended up just holding the coffee and trying to put the lid on. And I broke the whole thing in half, and I didn’t even know.”
As students work through this tragedy, FSU President Richard McCullough released a statement saying the classes and business operations will resume on Monday. There will be remote options for classes where it makes sense. The university has waived all mandatory attendance polices that may affect a student’s grade.
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:
— FSU President Richard McCullough (@PresMcCullough) April 20, 2025
We understand this is a difficult time for everyone. We have been working through a number of complex and challenging issues over the past few days. We appreciate your patience. We are now announcing new options for the end of the semester.
We…
“I don’t know how I’m going to react, and I don’t know if I’m ready to go back to classes, but I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll be in Tallahassee Sunday night, and I’m just taking it one step at a time,” Toussaint said.
Taking it one step as a time, just as many on the campus of Florida State University will.
“I just hope that we can always support each other and are always there for each other and know that we all went through something together and we have to stay together,” Toussaint said.
