Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show April 17, 2025 Gunman At FSU/Florida State University -- Real Photo, But From 2023 Shooting In Maine

Fact Check

  • by: Dean Miller
Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show April 17, 2025 Gunman At FSU/Florida State University -- Real Photo, But From 2023 Shooting In Maine 2023 Photo

Did an image shared on social media show the shooter during an April 17, 2025 mass shooting on the campus of Florida State University? No, that's not true: The image of the armed man in a brown hoodie first appeared online in 2023. It shows the Army reservist who killed 18 and wounded 13 in Lewiston, Maine on October 25, 2023.

The photo was used in an April 17, 2025 post on X.com (archived here) where it was published by @jadaaamirah. It was captioned:

FSU WHATS GOING ON?

This is what the post looked like at the time this fact check was written:

Shooter Photo.jpg

(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)

The 2023 news coverage of the Maine shootings at a bowling alley, a bar and a Walmart distribution center included the same security camera images of the gunman.

Outlets using the image at that time included the New York Daily News:

NYDN Shooter.jpg

(Source: YahooNews.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)

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Dean Miller

Lead Stories Managing Editor Dean Miller has edited daily and weekly newspapers, worked as a reporter for more than a decade and is co-author of two non-fiction books. After a Harvard Nieman Fellowship, he served as Director of Stony Brook University's Center for News Literacy for six years, then as Senior Vice President/Content at Connecticut Public Broadcasting. Most recently, he wrote the twice-weekly "Save the Free Press" column for The Seattle Times. 

Read more about or contact Dean Miller

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