Teen arrested in Florida shooting will be tried as adult, US officials Say

Tallahassee, Florida - A 15-year-old boy who was arrested in the shooting of 11 people after a college football game in Tallahassee, Florida, will stand trial as an adult, a Florida prosecutor said on Oct 26.

The teenager, Anthony Rivers III, was ordered to remain in custody at a juvenile court hearing on Oct 26 after his arrest the day before. The shooting took place in a crowded, closed-off street on Oct 24 about an hour after Florida A&M University’s homecoming game. A crowd of just over 20,000 attended the event.

The shooting left six people hospitalised as of Oct 25, one of whom was in critical condition. A spokesperson for the Leon County School District said four of its students were wounded, including the one in critical condition.

Six of the 11 people shot were minors, the Tallahassee Police Department said. A 12th person was injured but not shot, officials said.

Lawrence Revell, chief of the Tallahassee police, said at a news conference on Oct 26 that the shooting appeared to have stemmed from a physical altercation between people who knew one another and that none of the victims appeared to be intended targets. He said more arrests were possible.

Judge Andrew Sheeran, who presided over the hearing on Oct 26, said he would grant the request of the top prosecutor in Tallahassee to try Rivers as an adult, which Florida law allows in certain cases. He will be charged with 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a delinquent, officials said.

“It’s our discretion because of the severity of the offence,” said the prosecutor, Jack Campbell.

In a phone interview, he added that he had discussed the decision with juvenile-case prosecutors before asking his prosecutors to review the case. “Ultimately, it was my decision,” he said.

Rivers, dressed in a white T-shirt, gray gym shorts, sandals and his hair pulled up into a bun, stood quietly at the hearing on Oct 26 with his hands clasped behind his back, as the public defender who is representing him addressed the court.

The public defender said she had previously represented Rivers. Her office did not reply to a request for comment. Efforts to reach relatives of Rivers were not immediately successful.

According to court records, Rivers has been arrested previously on charges including burglary and theft of a gun, but it was unclear what the outcome was. He was arrested on Sept 6 for violating his probation and had been sentenced to a juvenile home.

According to a police affidavit, Rivers was arrested after surveillance cameras and an ankle monitor he was wearing identified him at a Tallahassee mall where gunfire had erupted in an underground parking lot.

The police identified another 15-year-old who was with Rivers as the shooter, according to the affidavit. Nobody was injured in the shooting, which occurred after an altercation in the mall.

Campbell declined to discuss anything about Rivers’ criminal record. But he said if someone was a repeat offender, “that’s something we consider” when determining whether to charge a juvenile as an adult.

The shooting echoed others in Tallahassee in recent years. Nine people were shot – one fatally – outside a liquor store in 2022 that Campbell said was connected to a homecoming event at Florida A&M.

In 2025, two people were killed and six others were wounded in a shooting at Florida State University, which is adjacent to Florida A&M.

Campbell is seeking the death penalty against the shooter in that case, Phoenix Ikner, who has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

The shooting on Oct 24 could have been much worse, Campbell said.

It happened on Perry Street, a residential street that runs alongside Bragg Memorial Stadium, where the football team plays. The street was blocked off for vendors selling food and T-shirts, and it is a popular place to tailgate before and after games.

“If you go to FAMU, you’ve spent time on Perry Street,” Campbell said. NYTIMES

• Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
• This article originally appeared in The New York Times.