The official said the shooter was Myron May, who graduated from Florida State before attending Texas Tech University's law school.
The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the name.
May was fatally shot early today after he shot three people at the Florida State library. Two are hospitalized and one has been released.
Abigail Taunton, who runs a foster home in the Florida Panhandle, told the AP that May had recently been staying at a guest house she owns. She said police interviewed her husband, David, after the shooting.
The shooting happened about 12:30 a.M., sending hundreds of students who had been up all night studying for exams scrambling for cover in the book aisles and barricading themselves in with desks.
Three students were wounded before police killed the gunman in a shootout, authorities said.
Police and FSU officials called the shooting an "isolated incident," but have not released many details, including how far May made it into Strozier Library. FSU's compact campus is located less than a mile from downtown Tallahassee and the state Capitol.
Students inside the multistory library heard about half a dozen gunshots. Students began screaming that someone was shooting at them and flipped over chairs in their race to take cover.
Two of the victims were taken to a local hospital.
