A murdered man kills two people, five others at Florida Yoga Studio: NPR

A 40-year-old man opened fire on Friday night in the Tallahassee Hot Yoga studio, shooting six people in total, including two deadly, and murdering a seventh gunman, before killing himself, Tallahassee police said.

The police identified the victims: Nancy Van Vessem, 61, and Maura Binkley, 21.

Two other victims were admitted to the hospital and are in stable condition, while three others were released from the hospital, police said.

Authorities have identified the shooter as Scott Paul Beierle.

"At the present time, everything indicates that it is the act of one person.There is no immediate threat to our community," said the chief. of Tallahassee Police, Michael DeLeo, Friday night at a press conference.

The Tallahassee police said they had been called to the studio shortly after 5:30 pm, looking for the late Beierle. The police department interviewed over 40 witnesses during their investigation, DeLeo said.

"It was a great team effort [with] We are very proud of the way our community is coming together in really weird, critical and really scary times, "he said.

The two victims, Van Vessem and Binkley, had ties to Florida State University.

Van Vessem was a faculty member of the FSU School of Medicine and Binkley was a student at the university, reported Tallahassee's WCTV station.

FSU President John Thrasher said in a statement to the station:

"There are no words to express the shock and sorrow we feel after hearing of the deaths of Maura Binkley and Dr. Nancy Van Vessem." Losing one of our students and l? one of our teachers in this tragic and violent way is just devastating for the Florida State University family.

"We deeply feel this loss and extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of Maura and Nancy as we pray for the recovery of those who have been hurt."

Van Vessem was also an internist and worked for the Tallahassee Capital Health Plan as Chief Medical Officer, Tallahassee Democrat reported. Capital Health Plan stated that she was a "visionary guiding force in our daily work".

"His dedication, attention, leadership, humanity and experience have made him one of the most respected, inspiring and accomplished health professionals in the state and country", said the organization in a statement to the democrat. "Our heart is filled with sorrow and prayers for his family – we have all been so blessed to have Nancy in our lives."

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat campaigning for the Florida governor against former Republican MP Ron DeSantis, said in a tweet Friday night that he would pull out of his campaign back to Tallahassee.

DeLeo said the investigators were still working to establish a motive for the shooting.