E-Paper
2 killed, 6 injured in Florida State University shooting: All you need to know
Florida State University shooting: The suspect, Phoenix Ikner, is son of Leon County Sheriff’s deputy Jessica Ikner and used her firearm during the shooting.
A tragedy ensued at Florida State University in the United States' Tallahassee city on Thursday after a shooting left two people dead and at least six injured. A 20-year-old suspect was shot at and taken into custody by law enforcement personnel. The suspect, identified as Phoenix Ikner, is the son of Leon County Sheriff’s deputy Jessica Ikner and reportedly used her firearm during the shooting.
The shooting has left students and staff at the university shaken and in panic, who are reeling from what has happened on the campus. Students who witnessed the shooting said that they consider themselves “very very lucky” to be alive.
Follow live updates of FSU shooting here.
Top updates on the Florida State University shooting:
How students, parents reacted to the shooting
The shooting happened near the university’s student union. After the initial gunshots were fired at around 11:20 am ET, some students and parents headed to a bowling alley to hide and also crammed into an elevator, AP reported. Students also rushed away from the student union area where the shooting happened.
Soon after, emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks and patrol vehicles reached the campus. The suspect was shot at and wounded by the police after he did not follow the commands, the report added citing Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell.
After almost three hours of the shooting drama, the lockdown at the university was lifted at around 3 pm EDT. While people were free to roam around the campus, they were advised to stay away from the shooting site, which has been cordoned off with crime scene tape.
Also read: FSU shooting witness records victim while sipping Starbucks, video surfaces
All classes and events at the university have been cancelled till Friday, including sports events which have been cancelled till Sunday.
Victims not students of FSU
The two people who died in the shooting at the Florida State University campus were not students of the varsity, the report cited FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower as saying.
The six people who were injured in the shooting are under treatment at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, out of which, one is critical, Jason Trumbower said.
The suspect
The suspect, identified as Phoenix Ikner, is not only the son of sheriff deputy Jessica Ikner but was also a member of the sheriff's office’s youth advisory council, according to Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil. He is believed to be a student of the FSU.
Also read: Who is Phoenix Ikner? FSU shooter identified as son of Leon County Sheriff's officer
Phoenix is suspected to have used his mother’s former service firearm during the shooting.
“He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have…So it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons,” AP quoted McNeil as saying.
Phoenix also espoused white supremacist views and was removed from a political club, NBC news reported, citing the group's president, Reid Seybold
Phoenix Ikner is currently under treatment for his injuries.
Not the first shooting at FSU
This was not the first time the FSU campus has witnessed a shooting. Over a decade ago in 2014, three people were shot near the entrance of Strozier Library on the FSU campus. The shooter, identified as 31-year-old Myron May, was shot dead by the police.
A student, Farhan “Ronny” Ahmed, was hit by three bullets during the 2014 shooting. A bullet severely damaged his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Another student was grazed by the bullet and the third person shot was library employee Nathan Scott, who was shot in the leg.
With AP inputs.
