As multiple rounds of gunfire erupted near Florida State University’s student union minutes before noon on Thursday, hordes of students ran away from the campus trying to get to safety as the sound of emergency sirens grew louder.

The man suspected of killing two people and wounding six others in the mass shooting at Florida State University is the stepson of a local sheriff's deputy. Classmates say the suspect had espoused far-right views.

The police identified the gunman as a 20-year-old student who is the son of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy. Neither of the slain victims was a student at the university.