A 15-YEAR-OLD boy arrested over a shooting that wounded 11 people after a college football game in Florida will be tried as an adult, a prosecutor said, as authorities investigate a gun attack that injured several minors.
Anthony Rivers III was ordered to remain in custody following a juvenile court hearing on Oct 26, a day after his arrest. The shooting occurred on Oct 24 on a crowded, cordoned-off street about an hour after Florida A&M University’s homecoming game, which drew just over 20,000 spectators.
Rivers faces 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,” The New York Times quoted Tallahassee prosecutor Jack Campbell saying of the decision to pursue adult charges.
Six of the 11 people shot were minors, according to the Tallahassee Police Department. Six victims had been hospitalised as of Oct 25, with one in critical condition. Four students from the Leon County School District were among those wounded. A 12th person was injured but not shot.
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said the shooting appeared to have followed a physical altercation between people who knew one another. None of the victims appeared to have been specifically targeted, he said, adding that further arrests were possible.
Florida law allows juveniles to be tried as adults in certain circumstances. Campbell said he had discussed the decision with prosecutors handling juvenile cases before directing his team to review the matter.
Court records show Rivers had previously faced charges including burglary and theft of a gun, although the outcomes were unclear. He was also arrested on Sept 6 for violating probation and sentenced to a juvenile home, according to the records.
A police affidavit said surveillance cameras and an ankle monitor helped identify Rivers at a Tallahassee shopping mall where gunfire had erupted in an underground car park after an altercation. Another 15-year-old who was with him was identified as the shooter in that incident, in which nobody was injured.
The latest shooting adds to a series of gun attacks in the area. In 2022, nine people were shot, one fatally, outside a liquor store in an incident Campbell said was connected to a Florida A&M homecoming event. In 2025, a shooting at neighbouring Florida State University left two people dead and six wounded.
Campbell said the Oct 24 shooting could have caused even greater harm. It occurred on Perry Street, beside Florida A&M’s Bragg Memorial Stadium, where vendors sell food and T-shirts and crowds gather before and after games. - October 27, 2026
