Three students were wounded in the recent Florida State University, but one managed to escape with his life thanks to his full book bag.

A gunman opened fire inside a Florida State University library early Thursday. Three students were wounded and 2 of them were subsequently hospitalized. Another managed to escape with his life unaware he had been shot, thanks to his full book bag.

21-year-old Jason Derfuss didn’t realize what happened until hours after the first shots broke out. When he went through his backpack at home, he noticed the books were essentially destroyed.

He looked them over and his friend soon discovered a single bullet inside a book titled “The Oxford Context of Wyclif’s Thought”. The round had settled into the final page.

Reality set in for Derfuss. In a comment to NBC News, he remarked “It’s crazy: One minute I am checking out books and the next I am crying on my bedroom floor thinking I shouldn't be alive. Those books saved me, and God saved me.”

Derfuss witnessed the traumatic events unfold in the library. He heard the shots and watched as the gunman, who is said to be a former student and lawyer, fired two shots into one of the victims.

The suspect was fatally wounded by police.