WASHINGTON — A mysterious package mailed to an Alexandria man is now in the
hands of police. It was sent by the gunman who shot and wounded three students at
Florida State University.
“I spoke to the U.S. postal inspector and he instructed me that the package has
been intercepted and they checked that there were no hazardous materials as part
of the package,” says Joe Paul, a one-time university classmate of Myron May.
May was shot and killed by campus police following his early Thursday shooting
spree at the school library.
U.S. Postal Inspector Lori McCallister confirms that a number of packages sent by
May have been intercepted and that none “pose a threat or contain hazardous items
or materials.”
Paul, a motivational speaker, met May a decade ago on the
campus of Florida State
where Paul was student body vice president. He says May was a “rising student
leader.”
“He was mild-mannered, a respectable young man. That’s really what I remember,”
Paul says.
Tallahassee police say they’ve collected evidence that indicates that the 31-
year-old gunman was in a mental crisis.
May contacted Paul and at least eight other individuals before the shootings to
ask
for their addresses so that he could send the mailings, which are now being
intercepted by the postal inspector.
“I asked them ‘Will I receive the package?’ and they said ‘Yes, you’ll receive
the
package but you won’t receive it now,'” Paul says.
Paul was hoping that the mailing might hold answers as to why the man he knew a
decade ago became the nation’s latest campus shooter.
“Why did it have to happen? Could it have been stopped? What are the signs that
people could recognize in people who are suffering from mental illness?” Paul
wonders.
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