Video taken in a parking lot appears to show people screaming and running to safety as gunshots rang out at Florida State University today.
At least one wounded person appeared to be on the ground across from the parking lot, video shows.
The suspected gunman “did not comply with commands” from law enforcement at Florida State University before he was shot, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said.
Revell said he does not believe the suspect fired at officers.
Authorities identified the suspected gunman as a 20-year-old FSU student and the son of a local sheriff’s deputy. The suspect is also hospitalized.
The handgun found with the suspected shooter when he was taken into custody belonged to his mother, who is a deputy with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said.
“This weapon was a weapon that the deputy previously used,” he said.
For many agencies, when a deputy or officer gets a new handgun, they “are allowed to purchase the handgun they used prior,” Revell said.
“This was a handgun that that deputy used prior to them transitioning to a new handgun and so it was her personal handgun,” he said.
The suspect in the Florida State University shooting, Phoenix Ikner, invoked his right not to speak when he was taken into custody by police, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said.
Today is a “tragic day” for the Florida State University community, President Richard McCullough said.
“We’re absolutely heartbroken by the violence that occurred on our campus earlier today,” he said at a news conference.
McCullough said the university is working to support the victims, their families and everyone impacted by the shooting. He has visited the hospital and met with student victims, he added.
“Our hearts go out to our students and the victims of this of this terrible tragedy,” he said. “I have to say that our law enforcement, our FSU police officers — absolute heroes in this regard.”
Officers’ immediate response “prevented this from being a bigger tragedy,” he added.
The suspected gunman in the deadly Florida State University shooting had access to weapons because his mother works for the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Walter McNeil said.
“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene,” McNeil said. “We are continuing that investigation into how that weapon was used and what other weapons perhaps he may have had access to.”
The sheriff said the suspected shooter has been “steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family” and he was involved with training programs.
“So it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons,” he said.
The suspect in Thursday’s shooting was identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, Leon County Sheriff Walter A. McNeil said at a news conference.
Ikner is the son of a Leon County sheriff deputy, he said.
Around 11:50 a.m. ET today, a gunman opened fire on the main campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, shooting multiple people near the student union, FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower said Thursday.
University police immediately responded, neutralizing and apprehending the shooter, he said.
Two people are dead after a shooting at Florida State University, according to FSU Chief of Police Jason Trumbower.
Trumbower said the two people killed were not students at the school.
He said five others were reported to a local hospital with gunshot wounds. The shooter was also taken to the hospital, Trumbower said.
Officials are giving an update on the mass shooting at Florida State University.
At least five people were wounded, according to a local hospital. The shooter was also hospitalized after being shot, law enforcement sources told CNN.
Florida State University’s main campus in Tallahassee had 42,507 students in the fall of 2024 , according to the school’s website.
The university is spread across 1,715.5 acres and has 403 different buildings. Its main campus is 485.7 acres.
Videos show police escorting stretchers after today’s shooting at Florida State University and students walking out of the school’s Rovetta Business Building with their hands raised as they evacuated.
Sophomore Bryce Vance said he was just minutes into the start of his accounting class when another student interrupted to say he heard there was a shooter on campus. A university alert warning of the shooting went out a short time later.
Vance, who sheltered in place in his classroom for roughly 40 minutes, there was a ton of commotion and yelling. Students were distraught, with some trying to place tearful phone calls to loved ones to inform them of the shooting.
“It was a mess,” Vance said.
Vance says he saw nearly 30 police vehicles and officers swarming campus from his vantage point at a second-floor window. Police eventually knocked on the door asking the students to keep their hands up as they safely evacuated the building.
The six hospitalized individuals in Tallahassee following the shooting at Florida State University include the suspect, two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
CNN’s John Miller previously reported the suspect was shot, though it is not clear who shot him.
Chris Malave said he heard gunshots ringing out “in very rapid succession” from where he was outside the student union on Florida State University’s campus this afternoon.
Malave, a student at the school, said he was getting lunch in the student center when he noticed people starting to run out of the building. He quickly realized there was a shooter and got out too.
Once outside, Malave said he hid in some bushes. That’s when he said he heard the gunshots, though he didn’t see the shooter.
“It was just absolutely horrific and it’s something I’m not going to forget for a very long time,” he told CNN.
A law enforcement source said a shotgun was found in the student union after the shooting, which injured several people.
Malave said he fell and sprained his ankle in the chaos of getting out of the building.
“I saw a lot of students running and then several other of my friends were being sheltered in some of the buildings on campus,” he said, adding that many of them have now been safely evacuated.
Law enforcement has secured the campus after they “neutralized the threat” following a shooting on campus, Florida State University and Tallahassee police said in an update.
“Please avoid the Student Union, Bellamy, HCB Classroom Building, Rovetta A&B, Moore Auditorium, Shaw, Pepper, Hecht House and Carraway as they are still considered an active crime scene. Individuals are free to move about other areas of campus. Individuals who may have witnessed anything of value should call 850-891-4987,” the university said.
It is not immediately clear what the condition of the shooter is although a law enforcement source told CNN that he was shot, although it’s unclear by whom.
The suspect in the Florida State University shooting was shot, though it is not clear who shot him, a law enforcement official said today.
A student at Florida State University said he is still processing what he experienced today after a gunman opened fire on campus.
Joshua Sirmans, a junior at FSU, was on the second floor of a campus library, studying for a final exam when he began to notice people running toward the windows.
“It’s like a little concerning, but I’m still studying at this point. And then you hear, like, the siren go off, and it sounds sort of like a fire alarm, but at the end of it it says ‘active shooter.’ And of course, I just look around. I’m trying to process it,” he told CNN on CNN News Central.
Sirmans said he made his way to a safe area, where he then checked the news and saw “videos of other students shot and bleeding out.”
“It’s just a lot to take in from that moment,” Sirmans said.
Tallahassee Police are tentatively planning to hold a news conference regarding the Florida State University shooting at 4:30 p.m. ET, police said.
There were at least 30 mass shootings in each of the previous five years in Florida, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. The number of mass shootings was up from the previous five years.
See how many mass shootings Florida has had in the past decade:
Florida State University said law enforcement is still “actively clearing rooms on the main campus” after a shooting today.
Hours after the university raised the alert, the administration is still advising those on campus to continue sheltering in place until called by law enforcement. The university has also asked students and staff to “call their loved ones as soon as possible to update them on their status.”
“The Student Union and the surrounding area is still considered an active crime scene. Individuals should avoid the area. Students should not return to the Student Union to retrieve personal property at this time,” FSU said in an update.
