The gunman who killed two women and injured five others at a yoga studio Friday before killing himself was formerly a teacher in Anne Arundel County, a school official has confirmed with WTOP.
Tallahassee police chief Michael DeLeo speaks to the press at the scene of a shooting, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, in Tallahassee, Fla. A shooter killed two and injured five others at a yoga studio in Florida’s capital before killing himself Friday, officials said.
(AP Photo/Steve Cannon)
AP Photo/Steve Cannon
A person is transported from scene of a shooting, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, in Tallahassee, Fla. A shooter killed two and injured five others at a yoga studio in Florida’s capital before killing himself Friday, officials said.
(Tori Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat via AP)
Tori Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat via AP
Police investigators work the scene of a shooting, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, in Tallahassee, Fla. A shooter killed two and injured five others at a yoga studio in Florida’s capital before killing himself Friday, officials said.
(Tori Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat via AP)
Tori Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat via AP
Police investigators work the scene of a shooting, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, in Tallahassee, Fla. A shooter killed two and injured five others at a yoga studio in Florida’s capital before killing himself Friday, officials said.
(AP Photo/Steve Cannon)
AP Photo/Steve Cannon
Police investigators work the scene of a shooting, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, in Tallahassee, Fla. A shooter killed two and injured five others at a yoga studio in Florida’s capital before killing himself Friday, officials said.
(AP Photo/Steve Cannon)
WASHINGTON — The gunman who killed two women and injured five others at a yoga studio Friday before killing himself was formerly a teacher in Anne Arundel County, a school official has confirmed with WTOP.
Scott Paul Beierle, 40, taught English and social studies at Meade High School from 2005 to 2007. Beierle resigned after the 2006-2007 school year, Bob Mosier, chief communications officer with Anne Arundel County Public Schools confirmed with WTOP.
The Associated Press reports that Beierle posed as a customer at the Tallahassee yoga studio on the second floor of the shopping mall to gain entrance and then began shooting. He shot six people and pistol-whipped another.
Beierle had fatally shot himself by the time police responded.
Police believe Beierle acted alone but they were still looking into a motive for the shooting. He had been in the military and was a graduate of nearby Florida State University, but was living in Deltona, a town in central Florida east of Orlando. Authorities in that county were searching his residence there.
The two killed Friday were a student and faculty member at Florida State University, according to university officials. The department identified them as Dr. Nancy Van Vessem, 61, and Maura Binkley, 21.
“It’s a place that brings my joy and peace, and I think it’s ruined,” said Katie Bohnett, an instructor at the yoga studio who skipped her normal Friday practice to meet a friend for dinner. “This monster ruined it.”
