Man who killed 2 at yoga studio was fired for touching young girl

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The man who shot and killed two women at a yoga studio was fired from his job as a substitute teacher for inappropriately touching a middle school girl, a Florida school district said.

Paul Scott Beierle, 40, posed as a customer during a yoga class Friday, then began shooting, authorities said. A 61-yearold faculty member at Florida State University and a 21-year-old FSU student from Georgia were killed. Five others were injured. Beierle then killed himself.

It’s unclear why Beierle chose that yoga studio in the Florida capital. He had lived in Tallahassee from 2011-2013 but had recently been living several hours away. Police have not released information on a motive.

But what’s clear is that Beierle had a history of harassing women and acting inappropriately. From pinching women’s buttocks to tickling a middle school student to appearing to make misogynistic videos, there were several red flags surrounding his behavior.

Kelly Schulz, a spokeswoman for the Volusia County School District, said Monday that Beierle was fired in May after he asked a female student if she was ticklish and then touched her at the top of the stomach “below the bra line,” a district report says.

“Student was frightened and hid behind another student,” the report said.

School personnel records show that students and a parent complained about Beierle’s conduct at a different school prior to the May incident.