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.
Students tell of horror
Following yesterday’s shooting at Florida State University’s Tallahassee campus, we’ve since been hearing from some of the students who were instructed to stay in shelter.
Emily Palmer, 21, was next to the student union when the shooting happened, she told CNN.
“I’m shaking … It’s just a lot going on,” Palmer said.
“I’m concerned about my friends. I have friends in class right who are getting evacuated by police with their hands up.”
Paula Maldonado told ABC News she was in class when the threat alarm went off and the sounded of yelling broke out outside.
"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.
"A cop came inside and I thought it was the shooter, so it was very scary. But after a couple of minutes another copy came back in and told us to go outside with our hands up."
Second shooting on the Florida State University Campus in 11 years
Mass shootings on U.S. school campuses have become recurring tragedies in recent years.
Thursday's incident was the second shooting on the FSU campus in 11 years. In 2014, a graduate opened fire early at the school's main library, wounding two students and an employee as hundreds were studying for exams.
Notable mass shootings at other colleges or universities in recent years include the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre in Blacksburg, Virginia, where 32 people were killed and 23 injured.
In 2023, there were two college mass shootings, one at Michigan State University, where three students were killed and at least five others injured.
The other incident unfolded at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where three faculty members were killed before a suspect died in a shootout with the police.
What we know about suspected shooter
Hours after the shooting on Thursday, police identified the suspected gunman as Phoenix Ikner.
Here, Joe Sommerlad shares what we know about the 20-year-old Florida State University student.
Suspect in custody at FSU: What we know about the alleged shooter
Shots sent students scattering
Holden Mendez, a 20-year-old student studying political science and international affairs, said he had just left the student union when he heard a series of shots in the Florida State University campus yesterday lunchtime.
He ran into a nearby campus building, where he said his previous emergency response training kicked in.
"There was a lot of fear. There was a lot of panic. There was a lot of misinformation that was being spread around. I was doing my best to kind of combat that," he said.
"I told people, 'Take a deep breath. This building is secure. Everything is going to be ok.'"
Andres Perez, 20, was in a classroom near the student union when the alarm sounded for a lockdown.
He said his classmates began moving desks in front of the door and police officers came to escort them out."
I always hang out in the student union," Perez said. "So the second I found out that the threat was there, my heart sank and I was scared."
University to hold vigil on Friday
As police continue the investigation into the shooting at the Tallahassee campus of Florida State University, staff have announced a vigil will be held for the two male victims, who were not students, on Friday.
The event will take place at 5pm at Langford Green - the same location a similar vigil was held after a shooting at the campus 11 years ago.
All classes have been cancelled for the day. Late on Thursday, the university released a statement: "The student union and the surrounding area is still considered an active crime scene.
“The public and campus community should avoid the area. Students should not return to the student union to retrieve personal property at this time.
“Students may return to their residence halls but they should otherwise stay indoors on the main campus to allow law enforcement and university staff to do their jobs and respond to those needing assistance.”
Shooting suspect pictured
The suspect in the shooting at the Tallahassee campus of Florida State University on Thursday was named by police as Phoenix Ikner.
The 20-year-old student is the son of a local sheriff’s deputy, authorities say, and was a member of the sheriff’s Youth Advisory Council.
On a now-deleted Instagram account with Ikner’s name, a photograph of him was shared with the biblical quote: “You are my war club, my weapon for battle; with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms.”
Ikner was wounded by police during the shooting at the campus. He is said to not be in a life-threatening condition as officers continue to investigate what happened.
Shock over suspect's ties to the police force
As we’ve reported, the named suspected in yesterday’s shooting, Phoenix Ikner, was a member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Youth Advisory Council.
The council provides “an open line of communication” between young people and local law enforcement.
Kenniyah Houston, also a member of the youth council, reacted to news of the shooting in an interview with CNN.
She did not personally remember Ikner. She said the advisory council focused on improving the community and law enforcement.
She said: “That’s what it was all about – making better decisions. For something like this to happen from someone in a group like that is scary … it’s devastating.”
Woman claims to be suspect's biological mother
Media outlets this morning have reported how Leon Country court records show the shooting suspect, Phoenix Ikner, changed his name from Christian Erikson after his biological mother was accused of taking him to Norway when he was 10 years old.
Now it has emerged that a woman claiming to be Ikner’s mother posted about the shooting on a Facebook now-deleted post in the hours after the incident, according to MailOnline.
She also fumed over a legal battle she had with her son’s father, who is believed to have raised Ikner.
She wrote: “Feel sorry for everyone at FSU and their kids.”
'I heard some gunshots and then, you know, just blacked out after'
We’re hearing more from students who were on campus at the time of the shooting on Thursday lunchtime.
Police say the suspect is Phoenix Ikner. Two people died and six were injured in the attack at Florida State University’s Tallahassee campus.
Carolina Sena, a 21-year-old accounting student, was inside the student union when the shooting started.
"I heard some gunshots and then, you know, just blacked out after," she said.
"Everyone was crying and just panicking. We were trying to barricade ourselves in a little corner in the basement, trying to protect ourselves as much as we could."
