TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – It was 10 minutes before noon on April 17, 2025.
Laurel Day, a 22-year-old senior at Florida State University (FSU), was resting in a hammock in a grassy area known as Landis Green when she heard a noise that immediately caused confusion, followed by panic.
That noise was gunshots.
“I was about 30 feet away from Strozier Library. And I see people running and screaming, and that’s when I heard people yelling, ‘Shooter!’ And so I felt that it was real and that it was actually happening,” Day said.
Day, who is from Jacksonville, was one of hundreds of students who survived and witnessed the shooting that killed two people and injured six others on campus, near the student union.
“I realized that it was actually happening to me, and I jumped on my feet. I grabbed my backpack and I started to run. I tried to call 911, but I realized that my phone was still in my hammock. So, I turned around really fast to grab it to call 911. While I looked over, the girl in the hammock next to me, still had her headphones in and was still looking around. So I yelled at her that there was a shooter and to run because she was not aware,” Day said.
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As she kept running and dialing 911, she started to hear the sound of sirens.
“So once I get to the top of Landis, it was about 50 seconds later, is when I first heard police speeding by me with their sirens on, and that’s when I felt that it was actually real,” Day said.
Press play below to watch Joy Purdy’s full interview with Laurel Day
Robert Morales, a university dining coordinator, and Tiru Chabba, an executive for food service vendor Aramark, were killed that day.
Day said going back to the campus she loves after a tragedy like this was not easy.
“I was able to go back to the campus to retrieve my belongings within about three hours of the incident. It was a very eerie feeling to return back. I saw everyone’s laptops open their phones, their keys, their lunches spilled. Everything was left where they ran from. And that is a very strange portrait to have in your photo. They didn’t care what they left. There wasn’t thoughts of... ‘I hope no one takes my things.’ The first thought is to run to safety,” Day said. “And again, that’s symbolizing that our lives are more important than whatever we had on us that day. Going back to campus, there was so many cop cars and so much law enforcement infested in the area that it wasn’t campus anymore. It was a crime scene.”
However, Day said returning to campus to attend the vigils and the memorials with flowers for the victims was a “beautiful thing.”
“I am able to visit campus because of the support of the community, the students, the staff, the faculty. They’ve tried really hard to help us stay on campus and continue to feel peaceful. So, it is a beautiful thing now, but it’s not going to be the same as before,” Day said.
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Day said these last couple of weeks have been challenging, especially when around large crowds or public spaces.
“It’s difficult to be in large crowds, be in a public space, and want to keep an eye on the door to make sure that if someone did come in, that I’m ready. If I hear a loud or sudden noise or people yelling or screaming. It just takes me back to the moments when my adrenaline was really high and where I had to go into fight or flight mode,” Day said.
Despite all of the pain, Day said she feels stronger.
“So although there is negative consequences that I will have to live with and deal with, I think that the positives is that I know that I’m able to be strong and resilient in a situation where I’m tested,” Day said.
Day also said she is thankful she has her faith in God, and rooted herself in a faith-based community church there near school. She said when tragedy hit, and she was away from home, she just needed someone to talk to, and her church was there for her and other students.
