The gunman in an attack at Florida State University that killed two and injured at least six is the son of a local deputy and used a gun belonging to his mother for the attack, authorities said at a news conference Thursday.
Leon County Sheriff Walter A. McNeil identified the alleged gunman as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, a student at Florida State University whose mother is a veteran Leon County sheriff deputy. Ikner is believed to have killed two people and injured five in a mass shooting on the Tallahassee Florida campus.
The suspected gunman opened fire near the university’s student union at approximately 11:50 a.m., striking multiple people and sending students fleeing for cover, said Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower.
Campus police responded immediately and “neutralized and apprehended” the suspect, Trumbower said. He was injured and was taken to a local hospital.
McNeil said Ikner used a weapon that belonged to his mother, a member of the county sheriff’s office for 18 years.
“Her service to this community has been exceptional,” McNeil told reporters Thursday. “Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene.”
Authorities are investigating how the weapon was used and if other weapons were used, McNeil said.
McNeil also described Ikner as a “longstanding member” of the county’s youth advisory council, a group that aims to improve the rapport between local law enforcement and young people in the community.
“He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family, engaged in a number of training programs, so it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons,” McNeil said. “This event is tragic in more ways than you people in the audience could ever [fathom] from a law enforcement perspective.”
Ikner was a student of political science at the university, according to FSU News, a university outlet that’s part of the USA TODAY Network.
The student paper quoted Ikner’s reaction to a protest held before President Donald Trump’s inauguration over the Republican leader’s anticipated agenda.
“These people are usually pretty entertaining, usually not for good reasons,” Ikner said then. “I think it’s a little too late, he’s [Trump] already going to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and there’s not really much you can do unless you outright revolt, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”
The Leon County Sheriff’s Office announced in 2021 that the then-high school junior had joined the county’s youth advisory council.
Ikner attended Lincoln High School then, according to the sheriff’s office. The school in the state capital touts itself as one of the top 100 public high schools in the nation.
He was one of eight students on the council for the county where around 300,000 people live, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The purpose of the council was to improve the rapport between Leon County authorities and young people in the area.
