FSU shooting: Mom speaks out after suspected shooter son is identified as ‘white supremacist’
Phoenix Ikner was removed from a school political club over ‘far-right rhetoric’ he shared, his classmates claim
The suspect in the Florida State University shooting reportedly shared “white supremacist views” with concerned classmates before yesterday’s attack that killed two people and injured six others.
Phoenix Ikner had a tumultuous childhood, according to court records showing the biological mother of the 20-year-old was accused of removing him from the U.S. when he was 10.
He later changed his name from Christian Eriksen to share the surname of his mother, Leon County Deputy Jessica Ikner, whose former service weapon he used during the shooting, police said.
His biological mother, Anne-Mari Eriksen, told ABC News on Friday that she initially worried he might have been hurt; when he was named a suspect, she “collapsed.”
"There’s so much that needs to be said about this, but I just can’t talk without crying. We need time to process all this,” she said.
Following the attack, a classmate at Ikner’s former school claimed the suspect was told to leave a “political round table” club after he “espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric, and far-right rhetoric as well, to the point where we had to exercise that rule.”
Once Ikner is released from the hospital, where he is expected to be for a while, he’ll be “taken to a local detention facility where he will face the charges up to and including first-degree murder,” Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said Friday.
Investigators had not revealed a motive as of Friday evening or released the victims’ identities, but some family members have come forward.
The two victims who lost their lives were identified Friday as Tiru Chabba and Robert Morales. Both men were fathers.
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Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime Guttenberg was murdered in the 2018 shooting, said that some of the survivors attend FSU.
Students hid in the student union's bowling alley
Ryan Cedergren, a 21-year-old communications student, said he and about 30 others hid in the bowling alley in the union's lower level after seeing students running from a nearby bar.
“In that moment, it was survival,” he said.
After about 15 minutes, university police escorted the students out of the building and he saw a person getting emergency treatment on the lawn, he said.
Chris Pento told WCTV in Tallahassee that he and his twins were getting lunch at the student union during a campus tour when they heard gunshots. “It was surreal. And people just started running,” he told the TV station.
They packed into a service elevator after encountering locked doors at the end of a hallway. “That was probably the scariest point because we didn't know. It could get worse, right?” he said. “The doors opened and two officers were there, guns drawn.”
Suspect is among the hospitalized - report
The suspect is among the patients taken to hospital, according to a report.
Law enforcement sources told CNN the suspect was shot in the incident and is being treated at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.
WATCH: 'That could have been me': FSU student speaks out after campus shooting
Witnesses speak out about the 'surreal' campus shooting
“It was just chaos,” one student told CBS Miami, noting how students began piling tables up and blocking the elevator to secure themselves in a classroom.
She said she saw a man being hauled away on a gurney who was bleeding: “It was hard to watch.”
Another witness said he heard eight to 10 gunshots. “It was surreal,” he told the outlet.
Trump vows to protect the Second Amendment after school shooting
A reporter asked President Donald Trump about whether he hopes to see change with gun legislation.
“I'm a big advocate of the Second Amendment. I have been from the beginning. I protected it, and these things are terrible, but the gun doesn't do the shooting, the people do,” the president said.
“I will tell you that it's a shame. I'm just hearing about it now,” he added, noting he’ll say more later when he knows more information.
“As far as legislation is concerned, this has been going on for a long time. I have an obligation to protect the Second Amendment. I ran on the Second Amendment, among many other things, and I will always protect the Second Amendment,” Trump continued.
Student shooter in custody after killing two and wounding five at FSU
Two people are dead and six others were taken to hospital in serious condition following after a 20-year-old student and son of a cop opened fire at Florida State University’s campus.
Phoenix Ikner was taken into custody following the brutal attack, which caused the campus in Tallahassee to be locked down on Thursday. FSU officials alerted students to reports of an active shooter and students were warned to shelter in place.
At a press conference Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil revealed that Ikner was the son of Leon County deputy Jessica Ikner, and had used a weapon owned by his mother to carry out the shooting.
Mike Bedigan has the latest.
Active shooter reported at Florida State University sending campus into lockdown
'This event is tragic in more ways than you could ever fathom': Police officer discusses suspect's links to law enforcement
Speaking at the press conference, Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said that Phoenix Ikner, the 20-year-old suspected shooter, was involved in the law enforcement community. He was involved in the sheriff’s office’s Youth Advisory Council.
"This event is tragic in more ways than you people in the audience could ever fathom from a law enforcement perspective," McNeil said. "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, and I dare say, across this state and across this nation."
Gun safety advocates and politicians send condolences after tragedy
“My heart breaks for Florida State University,” Gabby Giffords said on X. “It’s horrifying that students who survived the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School seven years ago just lived through another. The constant gun violence must stop.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is praying for the entire Florida State community, he said in a video on X. The suspect “must and will be brought to justice to the fullest extent of the law,” the governor added.
“My heart goes out to everyone affected by the shooting at Florida State University,” Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson said in an X post. “Our places of learning should never be the target of violence—this should not be the reality on our campuses.”
Florida State Rep. Michele K. Rayner issued a statement in the wake of the shooting. “As an alumna of Florida State University and a current member of the Florida Legislature, I am heartbroken and deeply troubled by the tragic events that unfolded on FSU’s campus,” Rayner said.
“Our schools, colleges, and universities must be sanctuaries of safety and learning—not places marked by fear and violence. Once we have all the facts, we must respond with urgency and resolve to ensure that no community in Florida has to endure a tragedy like this again,” the state representative added.
What do we know about the shooting suspect?
Phoenix Ikner, 20-year-old suspect, is now in police custody; he is a student at FSU majoring in political science.
Ikner was also a long-standing member of the LCSO youth advisory committee, McNeil said, and was “steeped” in the “family” of the sheriff’s office.
He added that it was “not a surprise” that Ikner had access to firearms, given his mother’s job.
According to online records, Ikner lives in Tallahassee, and registered as a Republican in 2022. He last voted in November 2024, according to the records. Earlier this year he was interviewed by FSU News about anti-Trump protests taking place on the campus.
“I think it’s a little too late, he’s [Trump] already going to be inaugurated on January 20 and there’s not really much you can do unless you outright revolt, and I don’t think anyone wants that,” he told the outlet at the time.
Here’s what we know.
