Student survives FSU library shooting — thanks to books he checked out seconds earlier


Florida State University's Strozier Library was the scene of America's latest school shooting. For one extraordinarily lucky student, that was both the very worst and very best place to be.
In a Facebook post written after the incident, FSU student Jason Derfuss recounted how he had checked out library books for a research project "one minute" before a gunman entered the library and opened fire. Though Derfuss was the first shooting target, he didn't even know it until he arrived home later and opened his backpack: Remarkably, the library books stopped the bullet, rendering it a harmless chunk of metal at the bottom of Derfuss' bag:
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Post by Jason Derfuss.
Hopefully the Strozier Library will waive the damage fines on these miracle books.
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Mike Barry is the senior editor of audience development and outreach at TheWeek.com. He was previously a contributing editor at The Huffington Post. Prior to that, he was best known for interrupting a college chemistry class.
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