20-Year-Old Student Kills 2, Injures 6 in Shooting at Florida State University

Two people were killed and six others were injured Thursday after a shooter, the son of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy, opened fire around lunchtime at Florida State University.

The shooter, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, also was shot after confronting police officers, authorities said during a late-afternoon news conference. News reports identified Ikner as an FSU student.




Ikner is accused of using a handgun that was an old service weapon of his mother, a school-resource officer. Authorities did not immediately identify the victims but said the two people killed were not students.

Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said Ikner invoked his right not to speak to officers after being captured and didn’t indicate a motive. Authorities said they think Ikner acted alone.

FSU President Richard McCullough praised a massive response from law-enforcement officers to prevent the shooting from being a “bigger tragedy” and said that he visited victims at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.

“Our hearts go out to our students and the victims of this terrible tragedy,” McCullough said during the news conference at the Augustus B. Turnbull Conference Center at FSU.

The university will be closed through Friday, with athletic events canceled through Sunday.

“Right now our top priority is safety and well-being for all the people on our campus,” McCullough said.




Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil called the shooting a “heinous crime” and said an investigation is underway to determine how Ikner, a member of the sheriff’s office youth advisory counsel, was able to get his mother’s firearm.

“This event is tragic in more ways than you people in the audience could ever fathom from a law-enforcement perspective,” McNeil said during the news conference. “But I will tell you this, we will make sure that we do everything we can to prosecute and make sure that we send a message to folks that this will never be tolerated here in Leon County.”

Ikner’s mother has been a deputy for 18 years, with McNeil describing her service as “exceptional.”

“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons,” McNeil said. “That was one of the weapons that was found at the scene. We will continue that investigation into how that weapon was used and what other weapons, perhaps, he may have had access to.”

Authorities also found a shotgun with Ikner, but it was not immediately clear whether it was used.
Sam Swartz, an FSU senior, said students were running and screaming before he heard any shots.

“We were just like, ‘What’s going on?’ Then, about 10 gunshots happened and everybody was like, ‘Oh my God!’” Swartz said.




As students scrambled for the stairs and a maintenance elevator, Swartz said he joined others behind trash cans in a corner of the student union, making a “little fort out of plywood,” where they stayed for about five to 10 minutes until police arrived.

“Everyone had their hands up,” Swartz added.

Students were advised just after 3 p.m. that “law enforcement has neutralized the threat.”

Still, students were advised to avoid the student union and some other campus buildings that were considered an active crime scene.

FSU sophomore Braden Tinch said he heard gunshots, but at first didn’t realize how close they were.

“Your body just kind of goes into fight or flight,” Tinch said. “I kind of thought about it, when I got to safety, about what just happened. It was crazy. I don’t think I’ll ever experience something like that again. It was insane.”

Lorenzo Santiago, another FSU sophomore, called the incident “definitely a nerve-wracking situation, for sure.”

“I am sorry for whoever was injured and affected by the situation. This is just horrible,” Santiago said. “I don’t understand how things like this continue to happen. It’s just awful.”




Thursday’s shooting came a little more than a decade after a 31-year-old attorney with a semi-automatic handgun wounded three people before being shot to death at FSU’s Strozier Library.

Beyond the campus Thursday, area schools were temporarily locked down and visitors to the Florida Capitol were briefly advised to shelter in place.

Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, said in an online post, “From our vantage point here in the Senate, we can see and hear many first responder vehicles rushing to FSU. Grateful for their courage. Praying for the entire FSU community.”

–Jim Turner and Mike Exline, News Service of Florida