Son of Deputy Sheriff Fatally Shoots Two at Florida State University, According to Police
On Thursday, a deputy sheriff's son opened fire at Florida State University, resulting in two fatalities and six injuries before being shot by law enforcement and taken to the hospital, according to authorities.
TroibNews 
A deputy sheriff's son was responsible for killing two people and injuring six others at Florida State University on Thursday before being shot by law enforcement and taken to a hospital, according to authorities.
Officials believe the gunman, the son of a Leon County sheriff's deputy, acted alone, but the motive remains unclear. The suspect had access to his mother's handgun, which had previously been her service weapon. She purchased it from the department, and it is now classified as a personal firearm.
"Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons that was found at the scene," Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil stated during a press conference.
The 20-year-old suspect, identified as Phoenix Ikner, is believed to be a student at FSU in Tallahassee, according to Jason Trumbower, chief of the university's police force. The two individuals who lost their lives were not students, and Trumbower withheld additional information about the four others who sustained injuries.
When the suspect failed to comply with orders to surrender, responding officers shot him and took him into custody, authorities indicated. The four injured victims, along with the gunman, were transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds.
The shooting commenced around 11:50 a.m. local time near the student union building on the FSU campus. Students and faculty were instructed to shelter in place while police arrived on the scene. The main campus accommodates over 42,000 students.
Witness Max Jenkins recounted the shooter emerging from the student union building and firing four or five shots outside.
"He saw the maintenance guy who was waving everybody, and I guess heard him probably and turned and shot that way," Jenkins explained in a video on the Tallahassee Democrat's website. "There's a golf cart over here with a bullet hole in it."
Chris Pento, who was on a campus tour with his children and dining at the student union building, described the scene as surreal as people began to flee.
"It was surreal, people started running. She just got trampled over," Pento told local TV station WCTV, referring to his daughter.
In addition to the handgun, authorities suspect the shooter brought a shotgun onto campus, although it remains uncertain if that weapon was involved in the attack.
Mass shootings on U.S. school campuses have become increasingly tragic in recent years.
This incident marks the second shooting on the FSU campus in the past 11 years; in 2014, a graduate opened fire at the main library, resulting in injuries to two students and an employee during a busy exam period.
Other recent mass shootings at colleges or universities include the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre in Virginia, which resulted in 32 deaths and 23 injuries.
In 2023, there were two mass shootings on college campuses: one at Michigan State University, where three students were killed and several others injured, and another at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where three faculty members were killed before the suspect died in a shootout with police.
Rohan Mehta for TROIB News
Officials believe the gunman, the son of a Leon County sheriff's deputy, acted alone, but the motive remains unclear. The suspect had access to his mother's handgun, which had previously been her service weapon. She purchased it from the department, and it is now classified as a personal firearm.
"Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons that was found at the scene," Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil stated during a press conference.
The 20-year-old suspect, identified as Phoenix Ikner, is believed to be a student at FSU in Tallahassee, according to Jason Trumbower, chief of the university's police force. The two individuals who lost their lives were not students, and Trumbower withheld additional information about the four others who sustained injuries.
When the suspect failed to comply with orders to surrender, responding officers shot him and took him into custody, authorities indicated. The four injured victims, along with the gunman, were transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds.
The shooting commenced around 11:50 a.m. local time near the student union building on the FSU campus. Students and faculty were instructed to shelter in place while police arrived on the scene. The main campus accommodates over 42,000 students.
Witness Max Jenkins recounted the shooter emerging from the student union building and firing four or five shots outside.
"He saw the maintenance guy who was waving everybody, and I guess heard him probably and turned and shot that way," Jenkins explained in a video on the Tallahassee Democrat's website. "There's a golf cart over here with a bullet hole in it."
Chris Pento, who was on a campus tour with his children and dining at the student union building, described the scene as surreal as people began to flee.
"It was surreal, people started running. She just got trampled over," Pento told local TV station WCTV, referring to his daughter.
In addition to the handgun, authorities suspect the shooter brought a shotgun onto campus, although it remains uncertain if that weapon was involved in the attack.
Mass shootings on U.S. school campuses have become increasingly tragic in recent years.
This incident marks the second shooting on the FSU campus in the past 11 years; in 2014, a graduate opened fire at the main library, resulting in injuries to two students and an employee during a busy exam period.
Other recent mass shootings at colleges or universities include the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre in Virginia, which resulted in 32 deaths and 23 injuries.
In 2023, there were two mass shootings on college campuses: one at Michigan State University, where three students were killed and several others injured, and another at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where three faculty members were killed before the suspect died in a shootout with police.
Rohan Mehta for TROIB News
