Campus Alert Archive
FSU

An FSU Senior Killed in the Tallahassee Hot Yoga Shooting — A Campus Vigil, an Advisory Message, and the Limits of Off-Campus Alerts

FLshootingadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

At approximately 5:37 PM EDT on Friday, November 2, 2018, Scott Paul Beierle entered Tallahassee Hot Yoga and shot six women, killing two and wounding four others before pistol-whipping a man and fatally shooting himself. One of the two women killed was Maura Binkley, 21, a Florida State University senior set to graduate in 2019. The other victim, Dr. Nancy Van Vessem, 61, was an FSU College of Medicine faculty member and chief medical director for Capital Health Plan. The yoga studio was located approximately three miles north of the FSU campus. FSU did not issue an emergency notification or shelter-in-place — the attack ended within minutes when Beierle killed himself — but the university held a vigil for the victims on November 4 and issued community advisories in the days that followed. The U.S. Secret Service later classified the attack as one of misogynist terrorism, and FSU established an annual symposium on the anniversary.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
2
Injured
4
Institution
Florida State University
Public R1 · FL
~43,000 studentsRave Mobile SafetyFSU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction333 chars
FSU Community Advisory: We are aware of an active shooting incident at Tallahassee Hot Yoga on Thomasville Road, approximately three miles from campus. Tallahassee Police have responded; the assailant is deceased. There is no continuing threat to campus. We mourn with our community as we await more information about those affected.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed: FSU did not issue an emergency notification because the incident was three miles off campus and the perpetrator was deceased before any meaningful campus alert window
The FSU response was framed as an advisory community message rather than an emergency notification — a deliberate institutional choice for off-campus violence
Tallahassee Hot Yoga is located in the Betton Place shopping center on Thomasville Road, approximately three miles north of the FSU main campus
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Approximate reconstruction370 chars
FSU Community: With profound sadness, we confirm that FSU senior Maura Binkley and FSU College of Medicine faculty member Dr. Nancy Van Vessem were among those killed in the Tallahassee Hot Yoga shooting Friday evening. A campus vigil will be held Sunday, November 4 at 7 p.m. on Landis Green. Counseling and support services are available through the Counseling Center.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed: FSU formally identified Maura Binkley (senior, Delta Delta Delta sorority) and Dr. Nancy Van Vessem (FSU College of Medicine faculty, Capital Health Plan chief medical director) the morning after the shooting
Landis Green is the central quadrangle of the FSU campus, the traditional location for university-wide vigils and gatherings
The November 4 vigil drew hundreds; additional tributes followed on November 5 organized by Delta Delta Delta
Context

Background

Florida State University is a public R1 research university in Tallahassee, Florida, with approximately 43,000 students. At approximately 5:37 PM EDT on Friday, November 2, 2018, Scott Paul Beierle, 40, entered Tallahassee Hot Yoga at the Betton Place shopping center on Thomasville Road — approximately three miles north of the FSU campus — and opened fire on a class in progress. He killed two women, wounded four others, and pistol-whipped a male customer before fatally shooting himself when confronted. The two victims killed were Maura Binkley, 21, an FSU senior set to graduate in 2019, and Dr. Nancy Van Vessem, 61, an FSU College of Medicine faculty member and chief medical director of Capital Health Plan. FSU did not issue an emergency notification or shelter-in-place — the incident was off-campus and the perpetrator was deceased within minutes — but the university's response was significant. FSU issued community advisory messages, hosted a campus-wide vigil on Sunday, November 4 on Landis Green, and Delta Delta Delta sorority (of which Binkley was a member) organized additional tributes on November 5. The U.S. Secret Service later classified the attack as misogynist terrorism in a 2022 case study examining Beierle's lifetime history of misogynist behavior and incel-aligned writings. FSU subsequently established an annual symposium on the anniversary of the shooting addressing misogyny, gender-based violence, and the incel subculture. The case is significant in this archive as a documentation of the institutional choice not to issue emergency notifications for off-campus violence with deceased perpetrators, while still maintaining a robust community-mourning response.
Analysis

Key Findings

FSU did not issue an emergency notification or shelter-in-place because the shooting was off-campus (three miles away) and the perpetrator was deceased within minutes
FSU senior Maura Binkley and FSU College of Medicine faculty member Dr. Nancy Van Vessem were both killed in the attack
FSU's response was framed as community advisory messaging plus a campus-wide vigil on Landis Green on November 4, drawing hundreds of mourners
The U.S. Secret Service later classified the attack as misogynist terrorism in a 2022 case study examining Beierle's lifetime of misogynist behavior
FSU established an annual symposium on the anniversary of the shooting addressing misogyny and gender-based violence — a long-running institutional response to the killings
Outcome
Two women were killed (Maura Binkley, FSU senior; Dr. Nancy Van Vessem, FSU College of Medicine faculty member) and four others were wounded by Scott Paul Beierle, who killed himself at the scene. FSU did not issue an emergency notification because the shooting was off-campus, three miles north of campus, and the perpetrator was deceased before any campus alert could have been useful. Instead, FSU issued community advisory messages, hosted a campus-wide vigil on November 4 in which hundreds gathered, and Delta Delta Delta sorority (of which Binkley was a member) organized additional tributes on November 5. The U.S. Secret Service later [classified the attack as misogynist terrorism](https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/researchers-tallahassee-hot-yoga-shooting-was-driven-by-incel-subculture), and FSU established an annual anti-hate symposium that has marked the anniversary every year since.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    2018 Tallahassee shooting (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. News
    Investigators Working To Piece Together What Happened At Florida Yoga Studio Shooting (NPR)
    npr.org
  3. News
    Survivor of Florida yoga studio shooting thanks man who confronted killer (ABC News)
    abcnews.com
  4. Official
    Hundreds attend vigil for Tallahassee yoga shooting victims (FSU College of Medicine)
    med.fsu.edu
  5. News
    Researchers: Tallahassee Hot Yoga shooting was driven by 'incel' subculture (WTXL)
    wtxl.com
  6. News
    An FSU symposium will mark the anniversary of a Tallahassee yoga studio shooting (WFSU)
    news.wfsu.org
  7. News
    Secret Service study of yoga class shooting shows misogyny (WTXL)
    wtxl.com
Tags
shootingadvisoryfloridapublic-r1fsu-alertoff-campus-incidenthot-yogamisogynist-terrorismincelcommunity-vigildelta-delta-delta
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion