A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting outside Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. The shooting left 11 people injured after the school’s homecoming football game on October 24.
Police arrested Anthony Rivers III on Sunday, October 25. He faces 11 counts of attempted homicide and one count of firearm possession by a person with a prior delinquency record. Officials say he will be charged as an adult.
The shooting took place near Bragg Stadium, hours after the Florida A&M University homecoming game. It became one of the most serious shooting incidents in Tallahassee’s history.
Tallahassee police said Rivers was taken into custody as detectives worked to find out what led to the gunfire. He made his first court appearance on Monday, October 26.
State Attorney Jack Campbell said Rivers would be moved from the Juvenile Assessment Center to the Leon County Detention Facility. The move follows the decision to handle the case in adult court.
Police spokeswoman Alicia Hill confirmed the charges. The case remains under investigation, and authorities have not ruled out more arrests.
During a news conference on October 26, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said the shooting followed a physical fight.
“Our investigation indicates that a physical altercation occurred before shots were fired,” Revell said.
He added that none of the 11 victims appeared to have been the intended targets. Detectives believe the gunfire grew out of a dispute between people who knew one another.
Police had earlier said they believed only one person fired the shots. However, investigators now say other people could face charges as they gather more evidence.
The shooting caused alarm in the area near the university stadium. The incident took place after a major campus event, when people were leaving the area following the homecoming game.
The injured victims were at the scene when the gunfire broke out. Police have not said that any of them were the intended targets of the attack.
Rivers appeared before Leon Circuit Judge Andrew Sheeran on Monday for a juvenile detention hearing. The judge ordered him held in secure detention while the case moves forward.
Sheeran said the nature of the charges required the detention order under state law.
At the start of the hearing, the judge told Rivers he was facing 11 counts of attempted homicide. A woman identified by court staff as his mother joined the hearing by video call.
“This is a lie,” she said before court staff muted her.
The hearing also addressed limits on Rivers’ contact with people linked to the case. Assistant State Attorney Linda Berman asked the judge to order him to stay away from all victims and witnesses.
Berman also asked the court to restrict his access to social media and the internet while he remains in detention.
“He shall not have access to social media applications such as Instagram, Snapchat and any other applications like that,” Berman told the judge.
She said any internet use should be supervised and allowed only for school work.
The judge agreed that Rivers must not contact the victims, either directly or through other people. He read the victims’ initials aloud during the hearing and made clear that the order applied to each of them.
Sheeran also explained that phone calls made from the detention center would be monitored. Officials would keep records to ensure that Rivers did not contact victims or witnesses.
“Your calls at the detention center are going to be monitored on a speakerphone,” the judge said.
He added that a log would be kept to check for any contact with people involved in the case.
Rivers has faced criminal charges in the past, according to the report. However, the current case will depend on the evidence gathered by police and the legal process ahead.
Authorities have not shared a full account of what led to the fight or explained how the shooting began. Detectives continue to examine the events before and during the gunfire.
The decision to charge Rivers as an adult is a key step in the case. Further court hearings may provide more details about the allegations and the evidence against him.
The investigation remains open, and police say more arrests are possible. For now, Rivers remains in secure detention as officials work to establish the facts surrounding the Tallahassee mass shooting.
The 11 counts of attempted homicide reflect the number of people allegedly put at risk in the incident. Rivers is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
