FSU Shooting: What We Know After 2 Were Killed on the Tallahassee Campus

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Published 12 months ago

At least two people were killed and six others hospitalized after a shooting by a student at Florida State University in Tallahassee, according to law enforcement.

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Police identified the suspect as Phoenix Ikner, 20, the son of a sheriff’s deputy and a possible FSU student.

Here’s what we know about the shooting, the suspect, the victims and how it unfolded.

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The shooter got out of an orange Hummer and opened fire near the student union at 11:50 a.m., police and witnesses have said.

FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower said he shot multiple people before officers were able to engage, neutralize and apprehend him.

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Two people were killed, Trumbower said. Six others were injured, with at least five being treated for gunshot wounds in hospitals, he said.

All six patients wounded during the shooting are in fair condition, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital said Thursday night. The hospital issued a Friday morning update stating that two patients are expected to be discharged later that day, three have improved and are in good condition, and one remains in fair condition.

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The suspect was also wounded.

In a statement Thursday night, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said an eighth person was injured while attempting to run away from the shooting scene. It was not clear if that person was taken to the hospital.

None of the victims’ identities have been released, but authorities have said the two who died were not FSU students.

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Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil identified the suspect Thursday as Phoenix Ikner, 20.

Ikner is the son of a sheriff’s deputy, McNeil said, and is believed to be a student at FSU.

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Ikner was a member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office’s Youth Advisory Council, which made it unsurprising that he had access to weapons, McNeil said.

McKenzie Heeter, a junior at FSU who witnessed the shooting, described him as a “normal college dude.”

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The shooter was hospitalized with unspecified injuries, police said Thursday. His injuries were serious but non-life-threatening, Revell said.

Reid Seybold, a classmate of Ikner’s, said they were in a political discussion group together when they attended Tallahassee State College. Seybold, the group’s president, said he had to ask Ikner not to return to the club because of his white supremacist views.

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Officials said a gun that belonged to the suspect’s mother was found at the scene.

It was a former service weapon, which she had purchased and owned, authorities said.

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Police said the shooter had a shotgun with him but could not confirm whether it was used.

Police have not yet identified a motive.

“I don’t know why he would have done something like this,” said Seybold, the former classmate. “I don’t know where it would have come from, but I’d sure like to find out.”

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via: NBC News

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