Elijah Velez, an 18-year-old FSU student who was one of three victims shot last week at the Robert Manning Strozier Library on the Florida State University campus, has returned home to Miramar and recounting his harrowing experience.
Velez, a freshman at FSU, spoke with a few local news stations, describing how he heard shots before running and then getting hit.
Velez, who was grazed by a bullet, told CBS Miami he heard shots being fired before spotting the shooter, Myron May, coming toward him. He also says he holds no resentment for the shooter.
"I didn't see him," Velez said about May. "I was getting on my bike at the time, and then he shot once and shot me off the bike."
Velez says at that point he fell and began running, along with other students who were frantically looking to find cover from the gunman.
"I fell off the bike, and then I started running, and then he shot again," he told WSVN.
Still, as more information comes out about May, revealing a troubled man with possible mental problems, Velez says he holds no resentment.
"He had his own problems to deal with, and I can't be mad at him for anything," said Velez.
May was a 2005 FSU graduate who was eventually killed by Tallahassee Police in a brief standoff following the library shooting.
Meanwhile, May's other victims, Nathan Scott and Farhan Ahmed, are still recovering from their wounds. Scott, 30, is a library employee who was shot in the leg. Ahmed, a 21-year-old student, remains in critical condition at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare. At least one report says Ahmed may be paralyzed as a result of his wounds.
Velez, a bio-chemistry major, realizes his luck and fortune, compared to the other victims.
"I'm very lucky. God was there with me the whole time, and I hope he's there with all the other victims now," he said.
"I just wanted to get to my son," his mother, Maria Moya, said. "That's all I can think of, is, 'I need to go get Elijah.'
"As a mom, you don't want your children to go away to college. I can't protect him."
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