> University of Florida police respond to panicked stampede at vigil for Israelis killed by Hamas
University of Florida police respond to panicked stampede at vigil for Israelis killed by Hamas
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Description
Newly released body camera videos from a panicked stampede at the University of Florida during a nighttime vigil last month for Israelis killed by Hamas show waves of terrified students sprinting out of their shoes, discarding phones and water bottles and colliding with startled and confused police officers who had drawn their pistols searching for a possible gunman through the melee.
The videos show a human wave of hundreds of students running toward Sgt. Stephanie Williams, who was racing to respond with his pistol in his hand. Students were seen crashing into and bouncing off Williams over the next 19 seconds.
The videos also revealed that police earlier the same day were secretly investigating a threat to explode a suicide bomb inside a backpack last month. A neighbor told police she overheard an older man in this college town discuss his plan "to kill a bunch of Jews." Students said they were not warned about the threat, which has not previously been reported. When a reporter asked organizers about it, they expressed surprise and asked to see the evidence.
The university administration, through a spokeswoman, declined to say whether it had been informed about the threat that night or considered warning the more than 1,200 students and others at the vigil. UF's new president, Ben Sasse, was at the vigil.