Just like the past three years, 18-year-old Amoirye Roberts and two of her siblings took part in Florida A&M University’s homecoming festivities – getting some food on Perry Street and hanging out.
But less than an hour into their hangout plans this year, gunshots started being fired out of nowhere, with one bullet hitting Roberts on her inner left thigh. Her mother Brittieny Stokes said she never would have expected her kids to be caught up in a mass shooting – let alone for her daughter to become one of 11 victims of the tragic Oct. 24 incident.
“I don’t really know exactly what led up to it,” Stokes, a mother of four, told the Tallahassee Democrat during an Oct. 28 phone interview. “All I know is that my daughter was an innocent bystander, and she just didn’t deserve to have that happen.”
Brittieny Stokes (left) and her daughter Amoirye Roberts (right) after Roberts’ high school graduation ceremony.
Stokes created a GoFundMe fundraiser on Oct. 27 to gather donations that’ll go toward Roberts’ recovery. The goal is to reach $4,500, and $895 has been raised as of noon Wednesday.
The effort comes after the mass shooting occurred behind FAMU’s Bragg Stadium after a homecoming football game, leaving at least 12 people injured. The incident is among the worst episodes of gun violence in the state capital’s history.
Roberts, who graduated from Godby High School in May, has been planning to enrolling into Tallahassee State College in January. She’s also a full-time Publix employee, a position she’s had for over a year.
Amoirye Roberts is among hundreds of graduates at the Tucker Civic Center during the Godby High School graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
During the shooting, Roberts began running with her 16-year-old younger sister next to her before noticing that she was no longer beside her. Looked back, she saw her crouched on the ground and ran back to her in the same direction that shots were being fired from.
“I get the guilt that she would probably feel if she wouldn’t have went back to try to help her,” Stokes said, choking back tears.
In Roberts’ recollection of the shooting, she explained to Stokes that she didn’t immediately feel the bullet after being hit – but after running a little longer, she stopped because she felt something flowing down her leg. When she looked down, it was blood.
Scenes from shooting behind Florida A&M University football stadium
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The Tallahassee Police Department investigates the scene of a shooting that occurred on Perry Street, behind Bragg Memorial Stadium just hours after the Florida A&M University homecoming game took place Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat)
Roberts was hit on her inner left thigh, and the bullet traveled down her body before going through the right side of her hip. It fractured her tail bone and exited through the front left side of her pelvic bone, which is fractured as well. Stokes said it also damaged the lower bottom of Roberts’ intestine.
She was in ICU for three days following the incident and is no longer in the unit but is still hospitalized at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. While her pelvic bone is expected to heal on its own, she currently has a colostomy bag that she’ll have to wear for the next three to six months.
“She is very loving and very caring,” Stokes said, referring to Roberts. “My daughter is the kind of person that can go to a party and not know anybody there but leave with 15 new friends. She’s a talker, and she’s just a people person.”
Although Roberts is in pain, Stokes says she’s been “so positive and optimistic.”
“She’s actually my most timid child,” Stokes said, “but going through this has shown me she’s stronger than I thought she was.”
How to help
Tarah Jean can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 18-year-old Godby grad recovering from Tallahassee mass shooting