TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State graduate Myron May seemed to change from a well-liked young attorney to would-be killer in a matter of months, stopped only by a fusillade of police bullets outside the library at his alma mater after he opened fire on students who dove between the stacks to escape.

Earlier this year, May, who went on to graduate from the Texas Tech law school, was a rookie prosecutor in New Mexico.

He was also beginning to fall apart.

May posted on his Facebook page links to information on alleged government mind-reading and believed the government was spying on him. He made rambling statements to the police and a former girlfriend. He abruptly quit his job and headed back to Florida, staying with friends and giving no hint about his plans until early Thursday morning when he headed to his old campus.

“Mr. May’s sense of being and place in our community was not what most people would refer to as a normal,” Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo said. “He had a sense of crisis and he was searching for something.”

At Stozier Library, about 450 students packed the library when May showed up and opened fire about 12:30 a.m. When police arrived, the 31-year-old 2005 graduate had wounded two students and an employee and reloaded his .380 semi-automatic pistol. He refused to put down the weapon and a gun battle erupted. Between May and police, 30 rounds were fired and the shooter was dead, killed by officers’ bullets.

May didn’t get past the lobby, but the sound of gunfire set off screams among students, who scrambled for cover among the bookshelves and barricaded themselves in rooms.

Senior Jason Derfuss, 21, of Orlando told the Tallahassee Democrat he heard gunfire as he left and saw a man shoot at another person. Derfuss ran to his car and called 911 to report what he’d seen.

After he got home, Derfuss dumped the contents of his backpack on the floor. He noticed several books were damaged, and then his roommate found a slug in the bag: a bullet had gone through a book about 14th-century philosopher John Wyclif.

“It was humbling to know that my life was in God’s hands right there and he graciously spared me,” Derfuss told the newspaper.

One person wounded in the shooting was in critical condition at a hospital. Another, library staffer Nathan Scott, was in good condition at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. A third person was treated and released.

The school and library were expected to reopen today.

Friends called May sweet, smart and understated. He returned to Florida about three weeks ago, looking to get a new start in life.