Two people were killed and at least six others were wounded when a gunman opened fire at Florida State University, and police said a 20-year-old suspect — the son of a sheriff's deputy — was shot and taken into custody.
The university issued an active shooter alert at midday Thursday near the university's student union. A campus lockdown was lifted shortly after 3 p.m. when Florida State's alert system announced that law enforcement had "neutralized the threat."
Students and staff on Friday were allowed into buildings near the shooting to retrieve their belongings, which police ordered left behind in the immediate chaotic aftermath.
Geology major Josh Jontiff collected his backpack containing his laptop and other materials from his calculus class a few hundred yards (meters) from the shooting scene.
When projector screens in the classroom flashed a message about an active shooter on Thursday, “we all filed to one side of the room and turned the lights off,” Jontiff said.
Police officers with guns drawn then banged on the door and led the group outside with their hands on their heads.
“It was a very scary situation," Jontiff said. “I tried to keep calm and keep others around me calm.”
Some students and frightened parents hid in a bowling alley and crammed into a freight elevator inside the student union. Officers shot and wounded the shooter after he refused to comply with commands, said Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell.
On Friday, a steady stream of students and others brought flowers, balloons, teddy bears and candles to a memorial near the student union. Among them were three members of the Florida State women’s volleyball team who held hands in a brief prayer circle.
“I don’t think any words can do it justice,” said Audrey Rothman, a junior.
Brooke Poppe, a freshman, said she was lifting weights in a gym when she heard the gunshots, then blaring sirens. They were locked down in the gym for hours. “It was really scary,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve fully processed what happened yet.”
Two vigils were planned for Friday afternoon. Florida State has canceled all classes through Friday while athletic events have been called off through Sunday.
Two patients are expected to be discharged Friday from Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Three patients have improved and are in good condition, and one patient remains in fair condition. The hospital did not clarify the condition of the shooter, who police officials said Thursday was being treated at a local hospital.
The two people who died were not students at the university, said Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower.
Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil identified the suspect as Phoenix Ikner, the son of a sheriff’s deputy within his department. McNeil said the deputy's former service weapon was used in the shooting and found at the scene.
McNeil said Ikner was a longstanding member of the sheriff’s office’s youth advisory council and engaged in a number of training programs with the office. He added that the suspect's mother has been with the sheriff's office for over 18 years.
“We will make sure that we do everything we can to prosecute and make sure that we send a message to folks that this will never be tolerated here in Leon County, and I dare say across the state and across this nation,” McNeil said.
Trumbower said Ikner is believed to be an FSU student.
Authorities have not yet revealed a motive for the shooting.
Founded in 1851, Florida State is one of Florida’s 12 public universities, with its main campus located in Tallahassee, just minutes from the state Capitol building. About 44,300 students are enrolled in the university, according to the school’s 2024 fact sheet. The campus is located a few miles (kilometers) from Interstate 10, which crosses the northernmost part of the state from east to west. Florida A&M University is also in Tallahassee.
Three people were shot around the entrance of Strozier Library in the middle of FSU’s campus in 2014. Officers shot and killed the gunman, 31-year-old Myron May.
Videos and a journal obtained by police indicate May, a 2005 FSU graduate and an attorney, thought he was being watched and targeted by the government.
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Associated Press reporters Kate Payne in Tallahassee, David Fischer in Fort Lauderdale, Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach, Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Michael Schneider in Orlando, Mike Balsamo in New York, Eric Tucker and Christopher Megerian in Washington, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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