A mass shooting near Florida State University’s student union on Thursday morning left two people dead and six others injured in what officials describe as a “random act of violence” that shattered the campus community and drew national attention.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, a student at FSU and the stepson of a local sheriff’s deputy, arrived on campus nearly an hour before the attack. According to Tallahassee police, Ikner exited an orange Hummer and opened fire just before 11:50 a.m., walking in and out of campus buildings and green spaces while firing a handgun (NBC News).
Police confronted and shot Ikner within four minutes of the first reports. He was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to face charges including first-degree murder. “Once he is released from that facility, 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 (NBC News).
Authorities said Ikner used a firearm that had belonged to his stepmother, a former law enforcement service weapon that she had purchased and owned legally (NBC News).
The two people killed have been identified as campus vendor Tiru Chabba and Robert Morales, a university staff member and former high school coach. Six other victims were hospitalized, with five being treated for gunshot wounds. According to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, all patients were in stable condition upon arrival, and three required surgery (NBC News).
Investigators have not established a motive, and police believe there was no connection between Ikner and any of the victims. Individuals who knew Ikner described him as someone who promoted radical conspiracy theories and hateful ideologies (Tallahassee Democrat).
The shooting has reignited trauma for many students, including survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting who now attend FSU. Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “America is broken. My daughter Jaime was murdered in the Parkland school shooting. Many of her friends who were lucky enough to survive that shooting went on to attend FSU. Incredibly, some of them were just a part of their 2nd school shooting and some were in the student union today.”
This incident is the second mass shooting on FSU’s campus in the past decade. In 2014, a gunman opened fire at Strozier Library, injuring three people before being killed by police.
In the aftermath, the campus community gathered for a vigil on Friday evening. The FSU Marching Chiefs performed while students placed flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, and handwritten messages outside the student union in memory of the victims.
FSU President Richard McCullough initially announced that classes would resume on Monday, an announcement met with backlash from the student body. On Saturday, McCullough clarified that attendance would be optional and remote learning options would be available. “We want to give students space to grieve and begin to heal,” he said.
President Donald Trump responded to the shooting on Thursday, calling it a “terrible” and “shameful” tragedy. However, he reiterated his support for the Second Amendment, saying, “These things are terrible. But the gun doesn't do the shooting, the people do.”
As Tallahassee mourns the victims and grapples with the aftermath, investigators continue searching for answers in a case that has once again placed gun violence and school safety at the center of national conversation.
