TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The 20-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy opened fire Thursday at Florida State University with his mother’s former service weapon, killing two men and wounding at least six others, investigators said.
Officers quickly arrived and shot and wounded the shooter after he refused to comply with commands, said Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell.
Authorities have not yet revealed a motive for the shooting, which began around lunchtime just outside the student union, sending frightened students and parents hiding for cover in a bowling alley and a freight elevator inside the building.
The shooter, identified by police as Phoenix Ikner, is believed to be a Florida State student, investigators said. The two men who died were not students, said Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower, adding that he would not release additional information about the victims.
The shooter obtained access to a weapon that belongs to his mother, who has been with the sheriff’s office for over 18 years and has been a model employee, said Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil. Police said they believed Ikner shot the victims using his mother’s former service handgun, which she had kept for personal use after the force upgraded to new weapons.
Five people who were injured were struck by gunfire while a sixth was hurt while trying to run away, Revell said in a statement Thursday night. They were all in fair condition, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said in a Facebook post.
The alleged shooter was a long-standing member of the sheriff’s office’s youth advisory council, the sheriff said.
“He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have,” McNeil said. “So it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
