Lola Lampley was scheduled to tour the Florida State campus Friday morning. The nationally ranked 2026 Lawrence Central girls basketball prospect was in Tallahassee on a recruiting visit, and was taking photos with her dad and the FSU coaching staff when an individual came running toward them.
Stay away from the student union. Stay away from the student union. They’re saying shooter.
“My first thought was to get somewhere safe,” Lampley said in a phone interview Friday night.
Lampley admits she was a bit skeptical initially. “I don’t take anything like that as a joke, but it was a little hard to believe,” she said. But as they drove off campus with the FSU coaches, they saw “more and more people” running away and multiple police cars rushing in.
“I definitely knew it was something,” Lampley said, adding they were “pretty far” from the incident and never in harm’s way. “I could see the worry on their faces and that’s what set it off. … I just knew we had to get somewhere safe and the FSU coaches did that.”
According to authorities, the son of a local sheriff deputy opened fire on the Florida State campus, killing two people and injuring six others late Friday morning. The incident triggered a campus-wide lockdown as students ran for cover, according to reports.
The gunman was taken into custody and transported to a hospital with “serious but non-life threatening injuries,” according to reports.
“It was very unfortunate, and I want to give tribute to those families, and just send all the prayers to the families that lost their children during the incident,” Lampley said. “(What) happened was very unfortunate.”
Lampley credited the FSU coaches with being quick to react, ushering her and her dad to their car and getting them to a local restaurant away from campus.
“It was like, is this really happening? I’m on a visit — I’m in Florida,” the 6-2 guard/forward said. “We were just about to take another picture so we were still cheesing and having a good time. It was surprising to both (my dad and I).”
Lampley said she didn’t realize the magnitude of the incident until they turned on the news. “It was going everywhere so fast and I was just like, oh my God. I’m happy we got away from there safely. … It’s just so sad.”
Campus remained closed most of the day, so following lunch and a brief respite at the hotel, she headed to the athletic facilities for a photoshoot and to meet with the FSU players.
“The coaches made sure I was comfortable,” Lampley said. “The visit actually ended up still being very great. It was very unfortunate that it happened, but it did not affect anything.”
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: FSU campus shooting: Girls basketball recruit Lola Lampley safe after visit
Lola Lampley was scheduled to tour the Florida State campus Friday morning. The nationally ranked 2026 Lawrence Central girls basketball prospect was in Tallahassee on a recruiting visit, and was taking photos with her dad and the FSU coaching staff when an individual came running toward them.
Stay away from the student union. Stay away from the student union. They’re saying shooter.
“My first thought was to get somewhere safe,” Lampley said in a phone interview Friday night.
Lampley admits she was a bit skeptical initially. “I don’t take anything like that as a joke, but it was a little hard to believe,” she said. But as they drove off campus with the FSU coaches, they saw “more and more people” running away and multiple police cars rushing in.
“I definitely knew it was something,” Lampley said, adding they were “pretty far” from the incident and never in harm’s way. “I could see the worry on their faces and that’s what set it off. … I just knew we had to get somewhere safe and the FSU coaches did that.”
According to authorities, the son of a local sheriff deputy opened fire on the Florida State campus, killing two people and injuring six others late Friday morning. The incident triggered a campus-wide lockdown as students ran for cover, according to reports.
The gunman was taken into custody and transported to a hospital with “serious but non-life threatening injuries,” according to reports.
“It was very unfortunate, and I want to give tribute to those families, and just send all the prayers to the families that lost their children during the incident,” Lampley said. “(What) happened was very unfortunate.”
Lampley credited the FSU coaches with being quick to react, ushering her and her dad to their car and getting them to a local restaurant away from campus.
“It was like, is this really happening? I’m on a visit — I’m in Florida,” the 6-2 guard/forward said. “We were just about to take another picture so we were still cheesing and having a good time. It was surprising to both (my dad and I).”
Lampley said she didn’t realize the magnitude of the incident until they turned on the news. “It was going everywhere so fast and I was just like, oh my God. I’m happy we got away from there safely. … It’s just so sad.”
Campus remained closed most of the day, so following lunch and a brief respite at the hotel, she headed to the athletic facilities for a photoshoot and to meet with the FSU players.
“The coaches made sure I was comfortable,” Lampley said. “The visit actually ended up still being very great. It was very unfortunate that it happened, but it did not affect anything.”
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: FSU campus shooting: Girls basketball recruit Lola Lampley safe after visit
