Florida Yoga Studio Shooter Was Fired From Teaching in 2 Counties
Not only was the gunman who killed two people a former school teacher, he was arrested for groping women and trespassing on FSU’s campus as well.
It has been discovered that the gunman from Friday’s yoga studio shooting, Scott Beierle, was a former teacher who had been fired from two Florida school systems.
He was also arrested on two occasions for groping women and trespassing on the Florida State University (FSU) campus, reports USA Today.
Beierle, 40, opened fire in a yoga studio in Tallahassee, killing two people and injuring five more before killing himself.
A 61-year-old FSU faculty member and a 21-year-old student were killed.
Authorities say the shooter lived hours away from the yoga studio. They are unsure why he chose to attack that location.
Arrests and Charges at Florida State University
The gunman was known to FSU campus police for prior arrests dating back to 2012 on the campus. That year, two women complained a food service employee (Beierle) groped them, according to FOX 6 News.
He was arrested and charged with two counts of battery. However, records indicate the case was dropped.
In 2014, an FSU gym employee noticed Beierle lurking and eventually followed a volleyball coach around at the gym and down the stairs. Beierle left the gym when he realized he was being watched.
The officer on scene told Beierle to leave campus and later found he had been issued a trespassing warning in the past.
Three weeks later Beierle was seen back at FSU’s dining hall and was approached by campus police.
“While waiting for dispatch, I advised Beierle he had a current trespassing warning for FSU,” the incident report said. “I advised him that he was currently inside an FSU building and he advised he did not know. Beierle advised I should arrest him now.”
Police arrested Beierle again in 2016 for assaulting a 19-year-old woman at the swimming pool of her apartment complex.
After reviewing surveillance footage of the pool, where Beierle was seen touching the woman’s butt, he was charged with battery.
Leon County records show the case was dismissed in May 2017.
Beierle Was Fired from Multiple Schools in Florida
Despite having a history of arrests for grabbing women on the FSU campus, Beierle was still hired at two school districts as a substitute teacher.
He was fired in May 2017 from Volusia County for unprofessional conduct, according to district records.
A Volusia spokesperson confirmed Beierle passed state and federal background checks conducted by the district and the Florida Dept. of Ed.
“Students and witnesses allege that Mr. Beierle asked a female student if she was ticklish and then proceeded to touch her at the top of the stomach ‘below the bra line,’” a district report said. “Student was frightened and hid behind another student.”
The report says Beierle was asked to speak with the principal after the incident but he attempted to leave before they spoke. A deputy brought him back for questioning.
“He [Beierle] would never really smile, never gave off much except a really weird aura,” a student who had Beierle as a teacher said. “He would put you on edge if he was talking with you or if you were alone with him.”
Before teaching at Volusia, Beierle worked as a substitute teacher for Leon County Schools from April 2015 to March 2016. Records show he was fired for looking at porn site during school hours.
After running a background check on Beierle, Leon County had originally denied him clearance to work as a substitute teacher, but Beierle appealed the decision to the school’s superintendent.
“I am very concerned about processing this applicant as a sub,” Leon County’s HR supervisor wrote in an email in 2015.
The school system provided documents that explained other strange behaviors about Beierle.
- His username and password for the school’s portal was “carnifex,” which means executioner in Latin.
- The secretary working the front desk noticed he was “constantly nervously looking around questioning everything,” when he was in the office filling out paperwork.
- He made loud personal phone calls in the lobby and left just before a security guard could escort him out.
- He would rudely barge into the HR office which prompted the HR supervisor to shut the door to keep Beierle out.
The FSU community gathered on Sunday for a vigil to remember the victims of the shooting.
“Our hearts are broken as we gather to mourn the loss of two members of our Florida State University family and offer prayers for those who were injured and affected by this horrific attack. This hateful and despicable act has affected our community profoundly,” FSU President John Thrasher said.
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About the Author
Katie Malafronte, Web Editor
Katie Malafronte is Campus Safety's Web Editor. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2017 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Writing & Rhetoric. Katie has been CS's Web Editor since 2018.
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