TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Diya TV) — The son of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy opened fire near Florida State University’s Student Union on Thursday, killing two people and injuring six others before being shot and taken into custody, authorities said.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, an FSU student, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after being shot by law enforcement, Tallahassee Police said. Ikner is the son of a long-serving Leon County deputy and had access to at least one of her personal firearms, Sheriff Walter McNeil confirmed.
Authorities recovered both a handgun and a shotgun at the scene. McNeil said one of the weapons belonged to Ikner’s mother, who has served with the department for more than 18 years. “Her service to this community has been exceptional,” McNeil said, noting Ikner had also been a “long-standing member” of the sheriff’s Youth Advisory Council and had participated in several law enforcement training programs.
Police said the two victims killed were not FSU students but have yet to release their names. Six other people were injured, five of whom were hospitalized, according to FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower. The campus was placed on lockdown and has since been secured, although the Student Union area remains an active crime scene, authorities said.
The violence sparked terror across campus. Sophomore Paula Maldonado told ABC News she was in class when she heard what sounded like shouting outside, followed by the university’s active threat alarm. “Everyone in my class quickly turned off the lights, put desks to block off the door and hid by the front of the classroom,” she said. “Some were crying and helping each other stay quiet.”
FSU senior Sam Swartz was studying with friends inside the Student Union when the shooting started. “At about noon, people upstairs were screaming and running around,” Swartz told ABC News. Moments later, he and his study group heard gunshots and took cover, barricading themselves behind trash cans in a hallway until police led them to safety.
Another student, Daniella Streety, was inside a building across from the Student Union when alert sirens began to sound. She watched as crowds sprinted away from the scene while law enforcement rushed in.
The shooting has reignited calls for action on gun violence. Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, revealed some of Jaime’s classmates were inside the Student Union during Thursday’s attack. “Some of them were just part of their second school shooting,” Guttenberg wrote on social media. “Because of the many people who refuse to do the right things about reducing gun violence, I am not surprised by what happened today.”
FSU freshman Maya Cabal, who was working at the campus gym when the shooting began, said the attack felt all too familiar. “This happens way too much in America,” she told NBC News. “No one should think their lives are in danger just going to school.”
Federal and state officials quickly responded. President Donald Trump was briefed on the situation, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the attack “heartbreaking” and said, “Our entire nation is praying for the victims and their families.”
Classes at FSU are canceled through Friday as the campus community begins to process the tragedy.
“This event is tragic in more ways than you people in the audience could ever fathom from a law enforcement perspective,” Sheriff McNeil said. “We will make sure that we do everything we can to prosecute and send a message that this will never be tolerated in Leon County, across this state, and this nation.”
Police plan to release more details as their investigation continues.
