Yoga studio shooter was substitute teacher in Volusia County

Student said Scott Beierle inappropriately touched her

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – The man who authorities say opened fire at a Tallahassee yoga studio, killing two women and wounding five other people before turning the gun on himself, was teaching Volusia County up until a few months ago.

Scott Beierle, 40, started working for the Volusia County School District in January 2017 as an English teacher at Hinson Middle School, but the district said it demoted Beierle to a substitute teacher after just two weeks due to performance issues. 

His career snowballed from there.

A concerned parent at Hinson Middle School alerted the district in August 2017, after finding Beierle's mug shot from an arrest in Tallahassee on a battery charge. He was never convicted of that crime. The district said Beierle didn't have to put it on his application since it wasn't a conviction. He was convicted for DUI and trespassing, which the district mentioned.

Two months later, another parent at Hinson Middle School complained about Beierle, who reportedly stared weirdly at students and made them uncomfortable. However, the district told News 6 those claims were unfounded. The district wrote in Beierle's personnel file that management discovered his arrest record out of Tallahassee and an inappropriate Facebook page that included provocative women.

But Beierle wasn't removed until May 2018, when the district fired him for unprofessional conduct at Galaxy Middle School. The report showed he asked a female student if she was ticklish and inappropriately touched her. The student was reported to be frightened and hid behind another student.

The district said Beierle was told to wait for a deputy, but instead ran away, forcing the deputy to catch him and bring him back for questioning.

"It's disgusting, it's beyond frightening," Gina Morin said.

Morin's 13-year-old daughter is a student at Galaxy Middle School.

"I have a female child. Not saying that he wouldn't do it to a male but he did do it to a female and that's what's upsetting and scary. That's your kid. Your kids are there, they're supposed to be protected against people like that," Morin said.


About the Author:

Loren Korn is a native Texan who joined the News 6 team as a reporter in May 2014. She was born and raised in Houston and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Journalism.

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