Police Identify the Victims of the Florida Yoga Studio Shooting

11/4/2018
Updated:
11/4/2018
Police have identified the women who were killed on Friday, Nov. 2, when a gunman stormed a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, and opened fire.

Nancy Van Vessem was a doctor. Maura Binkley was a college student. Both were part of the Florida State University community.

Here’s what we know about them:

Maura Binkley

Florida State University student Maura Binkley was a "beloved sister," her sorority said. (Facebook via CNN)
Florida State University student Maura Binkley was a "beloved sister," her sorority said. (Facebook via CNN)
Binkley was a 21-year-old student at Florida State, according to school President John Thrasher.
In a statement posted to its Facebook page, the Delta Delta Delta sorority called Binkley a “beloved sister.”

“As a leader in the (Alpha Eta) chapter, Maura embodied the Tri Delta woman -- brave, bold and kind,” the statement from President Kimberlee Sullivan said. “Our hearts are with her family, our sisters and the FSU community during this difficult time.”

According to FSU’s website, Binkley was studying for a double major in English and German.

Binkley spent this past summer studying at the University of Wuppertal in Germany, the website said, and she found the experience “so rewarding.”

She grew up in the Atlanta metro area and was known to friends and family for her compassion.

“Maura truly lived a life really devoted to peace, love and caring for others,” her father, Jeff Binkley, told CNN affiliate WSB.
Her father says Binkley planned to graduate college in May and had been working on her Teach for America application.

Nancy Van Vessem

Dr. Nancy Van Vessem was chief medical director for Florida's Capital Health Plan. (Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare via CNN)
Dr. Nancy Van Vessem was chief medical director for Florida's Capital Health Plan. (Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare via CNN)
Van Vessem, 61, was a doctor who was chief medical director for Capital Health Plan, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. She was also a faculty member at Florida State, Thrasher said.
According to the Florida State College of Medicine’s website, Van Vessem was in charge of coordinating third and fourth year clerkship rotations in internal medicine on the school’s Tallahassee campus. She had gotten her medical degree from St. Louis University, the website said, and her research focus was “restructuring health care for people with multiple chronic diseases.”
Big Bend Hospice in Tallahassee shared a tribute to Van Vessem on its Facebook page, calling the doctor “a physician and leader who touched countless lives as Chief Medical Officer at Capital Health Plan.”

“Dr. Van Vessem was part of the Big Bend Hospice community,” the statement said. “She was our friend and a champion for end-of-life care.”

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.