Man Shoots 6 at Florida Yoga Studio, Killing 2 and Then Himself

A man walked into a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday evening and shot six people — two fatally — before killing himself, the police said.

The police were called to the studio, Hot Yoga Tallahassee, shortly after 5:30 p.m. “Upon arriving on scene, officers found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds,” Michael DeLeo, the chief of the Tallahassee Police Department, said at a news conference on Friday night.

The Tallahassee Police Department said it believed the gunman, who was identified Saturday morning as Scott Paul Beierle, 40, shot and killed himself at the scene.

The police also identified the victims who were shot and killed as Nancy Van Vessem, 61, and Maura Binkley, 21. Three of the injured victims had been released from the hospital as of Saturday morning. Another two were in stable condition, the police said. Not all of those injured were shot; one was pistol-whipped. The police said Saturday morning that they had not yet determined the gunman’s motive. 

“All indications are this is the act of a single person. There is no immediate threat to our community,” Chief DeLeo said on Friday. “Obviously we are all very saddened and shocked by the events that occurred.”

He said there were “indications that several people inside fought back and tried to not only save themselves but other people, which is a testament their courage.”

A yoga class had been scheduled to begin at the studio at 5:30 p.m., according to The Tallahassee Democrat. “In my public service career I have had to be on some bad scenes,” Scott Maddox, a city commissioner, said in a post on Facebook. “This is the worst. Please pray.”

Mayor Andrew Gillum of Tallahassee, a Democrat who is running against the Republican Ron DeSantis for governor of Florida, said in a tweet on Friday evening that he was “deeply appreciative of law enforcement’s quick response to the shooting at the yoga facility in Tallahassee today.”

“No act of gun violence is acceptable,” he added. “I’m in close communication with law enforcement officials and will be returning to Tallahassee tonight.”

In a tweet, Mr. DeSantis called the news of the shooting “heartbreaking,” adding that he and his wife, Casey DeSantis, were “praying for the families of the victim whose life was tragically taken tonight and those taken to the hospital with injuries.”