Shooter was FSU grad, ex-prosecutor 'in crisis'

Myron May, identified as the shooter at Florida State University, was an FSU alumnus who had recently quit as a prosecutor in New Mexico, was having financial troubles and believed the government was spying on him, authorities said Thursday.

The 31-year-old native of Dayton, Ohio, who grew up in the Florida Panhandle, was shot and killed by police about 12:30 a.m. after he wounded three people at an FSU library.

"Mr. May was in a state of crisis ... struggling either psychologically or emotionally," Police Chief Michael DeLeo told reporters.

A 2005 FSU grad, May had recently moved back to the Tallahassee area after leaving his job with the Las Cruces, N.M., district attorney's office in October.

Last month, a former girlfriend filed a harassment complaint alleging May told her police were bugging his home and car. She also said May had developed a "severe mental disorder" and was taking medication, according to a police report obtained by the Associated Press.

On his Facebook page, May posted Bible verses and links to conspiracy theories about the government reading people's minds.

His final entry, at 7:57 p.m. Tuesday, was a New Testament verse, Matthew 5:3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Although May stated on his Facebook page that he was "in-house" lawyer for the Taunton Family Children's Home in Wewahitchka, where he attended junior and senior high, the founder of the home said his only connection was having stayed there frequently as a teenager.

She said May lived with his grandmother after coming out of a "bad situation" with his parents.

"We're just all astounded. We had no idea that he would do something like this," Abigail Taunton said. "Obviously, he was not in his right mind."

"He was having some financial issues and moved back home and decided he'd come back to Florida to work," she said. "My heart's broken. In a million years I wouldn't have thought he'd do something like this. He was struggling, having decided that what he was doing out there was not good. He had some issues and just decided he'd come home."

May had studied at Gulf Coast State College before graduating from FSU. He got his law degree at Texas Tech University School of Law and, at one point, worked at a law firm in Houston.

Records show May was licensed to practice law in Texas and New Mexico. Taunton said he was planning to take the Florida bar exam in February.

May joined the Las Cruces DA's staff in January, moving from the public defender's office, District Attorney Mark D'Antonio said at a news conference. On Oct. 6, he left a resignation letter on his desk and never returned; he gave no hint he planned to quit.

"I was shocked beyond words and deeply saddened," D'Antonio said of the shooting, the Las Cruces Sun-Newsreported. "... We're all quite put aside by this. We don't understand the nature of it, we don't understand all the facts, but it's extremely shocking to us all."

He added he was not aware of any mental health problems May may have suffered.