Chewing gum and quick thinking: How FSU students evaded the shooter

On Thursday (April 17), the Florida State University (FSU) campus in United States’ Tallahassee was rocked by a mass shooting incident, resulting in the death of two students. The suspect was later identified as Phoenix Ikner, the son of Leon County Sheriff’s deputy Jessica Ikner. Now, several stories have emerged revealing how students facing life-threatening situation found creative ways to survive.

Chewing gum comes to rescue

Jeffrey LaFray, one of the students who were at the campus at the time of shooting, told ABC’s Good Morning America how their teacher came up with a great idea to fend off the shooter.

The teacher’s idea included sticking paper to window using chewing gums so that the shooter couldn’t see inside the classroom.

“The teacher was asking if any of us had tape to tape up some paper. And no one had tape, and so some of us, we just got out our gum and started chewing so we could stick some paper to the windows,” LaFray said.

Another graduate student, Madison Askins, shared a harrowing account of how she survived the shooting. She and a friend were walking near the student union building when she was struck in the back. In a desperate bid to stay alive, she pretended to be dead. Her quick thinking likely saved her life.

“When I was shot in the buttocks from behind, I fell to the ground, kept my eyes shut, and played dead. I released all the muscles in my body, closed my eyes, and held my breath. And I would take short breaths in between when I needed to,” she told ABC News.

She recalled hearing the shooter reload his weapon and then yelling at students: “keep running”.

The shooting happened near the university’s student union. After the initial gunshots were fired at around 11:20 am ET, some students and parents headed to a bowling alley to hide and also crammed into an elevator, AP reported.

Police later shot and wounded the suspect after he refused to follow the command.