Photo Courtesy of Sow's family
On Friday night, an 18-year-old student was shot and killed by campus police at a Florida college.
Alhaji M. Sow, from Clayton County, Georgia, was reportedly chasing students at the Florida Institute of Technology with a knife, WFTV reported. According to the news outlet, Melbourne police arrived at the Columbia Village Apartments after being notified that Sow allegedly assaulted a female student on December 4. The teen and the unidentified woman had gotten into an altercation at 10:40 pm, and she had asked him to leave the premises.
Shortly after, witnesses revealed that he attacked other female students in the school’s parking garage.
“He punched a girl,” one 911 caller said.
Other callers informed emergency services that Sow had a knife was dressed in black and causing property damage inside Florida Institute Technology’s campus parking garage.
At 11 pm, armed campus security and Melbourne police found Sow in the dorm. Although he no longer had the knife (he allegedly ditched it on the second floor of the building), WFTV reported that he was wielding scissors. He reportedly attacked a Melbourne police officer, and the officer opened fire– killing Sow at the scene.
Now, Sow’s parents wonder why law enforcement agents used lethal force to subdue their fallen son.
“You don’t know how much pain you get from losing a child,” Sow’s father said.
Florida Institute of Technology President and CEO T. Dwayne McCay posted a message on the school’s official Facebook page addressing the tragic shooting. The college is also offering counseling and support services for students.
“Life is unpredictable. Unforeseeable situations occur. These are facts of our daily lives. Friday night’s campus incident where a student suspect died after reportedly threatening and hurting others is what we meet today,” McCay wrote.
“We are not defined by our losses, but I do believe we can be defined by how we meet them. We cannot stop bad things from happening in life, but we can control how we work together to persevere through them. We can look out for one another. We can find ways to be safer and more secure together. We can use the lessons of life’s trials and tribulations to become stronger—both as individuals and as a community.”
“My heart goes out to everyone in pain. I mourn any loss of life, while I also remain steadfastly thankful for the men and women who invest their lives in protecting us,” he continued. “The safest university campuses are the ones where students, staff, faculty and others look out for one another. We do that at Florida Tech.”
“I want every member of this university community to know that we will get through this together. Counseling and support services will continue to be available for the entire campus community in the coming days. We will learn from this together. And we will be the stronger for it.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that one police officer was injured, though the school said otherwise.
On Tuesday, students held a vigil for Sow, who was well-liked by peers.
“He was the first person that I ever met here, first friend I had,” Dale Henry, a freshman at the school, said. “We kind of bonded really quickly, and it would definitely mean something if I would at least be able to be here with other people that knew him as well.”
According to Sow’s LinkedIn, he was studying cybersecurity and engineering. He was also a tutor. The bright teen had earned an Associate of Science Degree in General Studies and was a 2021 graduate of North Clayton High School.
His parents have hired an outside agency to investigate why lethal force was used in the incident.