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.
Classmate claims FSU shooter spouted ‘white supremacist rhetoric and far-right’ views in campus political group
Classmates of the suspected Florida State University gunman say he espoused “white supremacist and far-right rhetoric” for years prior to Thursday killing, where two people were killed and six more were injured.
Phoenix Ikner, 20, got into arguments with fellow students over “gross” things he said in class, and was known to take his comments “up to the line.” He also reportedly boasted of the fact that he had access to firearms at home.
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Classmates claim FSU shooter held ‘white supremacist rhetoric and far-right’ views
Family of victim Robert Morales speaks out after death
The family of Robert Morales, who was identified as one of the victims of the FSU shootings, have confirmed his death, saying he “deserved better.”
“Today we lost my younger Brother, He was one of the victims killed at FSU,” Ricardo Morales Jr wrote on X, sharing pictures of his brother.
“He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful Wife and Daughter. I’m glad you were in my Life.”
In a separate post he added: “You deserved better Robert. Thank you for being in my life.”
Friday classes and weekend sports at FSU cancelled
All classes on the main Florida State University campus in Tallahassee were on Friday following the shooting at the Student’s Union.
“Employees should check with their supervisors to determine if they are essential personnel and for further reporting instructions,” a statement fro FSU said.
School sporting events over the weekend were also cancelled.
Inside FSU shooting suspect’s tumultuous childhood
The suspect arrested after two people were shot dead and six were injured on a Florida campus had a tumultuous childhood, according to reports.
Phoenix Ikner, 20, was described by Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil after the attack on Thursday as the son of one of his deputies, Jessica Ikner. McNeil said the suspect had used her weapon to carry out the shooting at Florida State University (FSU)’s Tallahassee campus.
But reports have now emerged of court records stating that Ikner’s birth name was Christian Gunnar Eriksen and that another woman, Anne-Mari Eriksen, is his biological mother.
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FSU shooting suspect Phoenix Ikner had ‘tumultuous childhood,’ court records reveal
Second victim of FSU shooting named
The second victim of the FSU shooting has been named as Tiru Chabba, a 45-year-old father of two.
Chabba, a resident of Greenville, South Carolina, was on the campus Thursday as an employee of a campus vendor.
He is survived by his wife and two children, and the family has hired civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers of The Strom Law Firm and Jim Bannister, the firm said in a release.
“Tiru Chabba’s family is going through the unimaginable now,” Sellers said in a statement.
“Instead of hiding Easter eggs and visiting with friends and family, they’re living a nightmare where this loving father and devoted husband was stolen from them in an act of senseless and preventable violence.”
All victims' families have been contacted following FSU shooting
The families of all victims involved in the Florida State University shooting have been contacted, the college has said.
Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where the victims were taken after the incident, said all were expected to make a full recovery.
No further information about their identities has been released.
“We continue to urge all students and staff to contact their family members as soon as possible to let them know they are safe and well,” an update from FSU said.
Injured grad student says she was forced to 'play dead' after being struck by a bullet
Madison Askins, a 23-year-old FSU graduate student, was among those injured at the shooting on Thursday.
She and her friend were walking when the pair heard gunshots, she told ABC News.
They "took off running," but "unfortunately, I fell," she said.
As her friend attempted to help Askins to her feet, she was then shot in her buttocks; her friend ran to safety, she told the outlet. That’s when she opted to play dead.
"I released all the muscles in my body, closed my eyes and held my breath," the grad student said. "And I would take short breaths in between when I needed to."
At one point, she thought she heard the shooter walk away, so she planned to inch toward her phone to send off “I love you” texts to her family.
“I wanted to call my dad, tell him I loved him,” she said, crying.
She didn’t though. Askins then hear the gunman reload his firearm nearby. He was so close that she recalled hearing him calmly say: "Keep running."
She told the outlet: "I know for certain if I was moving he would've shot me again.”
A tragedy in under five minutes
The shooting spree spanned less than five minutes until police showed up at FSU’s campus, the Associated Press reported.
The suspected gunman arrived at the school’s main campus an hour before he opened fire near the Student Union building, police have said.
In that time, authorities said, the 20-year-old suspect stayed near a parking garage before entering and exiting buildings before using a firearm.
After refusing to comply with police’s commands, the suspected shooter was shot and wounded by law enforcement. He is receiving medical attention.
'This is a kind of tragedy that shouldn’t happen:' FSU president speaks at vigil
“Yesterday started like a regular spring day...until everything changed and then some,” FSU President Richard McCullough. “This is a kind of tragedy that shouldn’t happen. Not here. Not anywhere.”
He spoke about one of the two victims, Robert Morales, who was part of the FSU community. Morales was known as a “dedicated colleague” and a “kind person,” he said.
“This is the kind of tragedy that changes people, that changes a place. But it does not define us,” McCullough said.
After praising the efforts of law enforcement and hospital staff, he said: “We’re lucky in a lot of ways. But it could have been much worse.”
He recently spoke to leaders of other schools, like Virginia Tech, that have suffered shootings. “It’s a tragedy that we have to continue to endure. This ridiculous violence for no apparent reason,” the FSU president said.
Who was Tiru Chabba, one of the two men killed in Thursday's FSU shooting?
The 45-year-old father of two was a resident of Greenville, South Carolina.
He was on the FSU campus Thursday as an employee of a campus vendor when the attack took place, lawyers for his family said in a Friday statement.
His family hired national civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers of The Strom Law Firm and Jim Bannister “to ensure that all those who bear responsibility for this senseless act of violence are held to account.”
The attorneys asked for privacy for the grieving family.
“Tiru Chabba’s family is going through the unimaginable now,” Sellers said in a statement. “Instead of hiding Easter eggs and visiting with friends and family, they’re living a nightmare where this loving father and devoted husband was stolen from them in an act of senseless and preventable violence.”
“We ask you to keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as we fight to ensure they see justice that honors the memories of Mr. Chabba and all the victims of Thursday’s shooting,” the attorney added.