Two dead after shooting by 'police officer's son' at Florida State University

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An active shooter reported on Florida State University’s campus just after noon on Thursday has been detained and identified as the son of a local Sheriff’s Deputy.

20-year-old Phoenix Ikner,the son of a local officer,is in hospital currently. His social media profiles appear to have been deleted.

Two people,who are not students,have died from their injuries,according to Florida State University police.

One of the weapons found belonged to the Deputy,but police have stressed she was not involved.

‘He (Ikner) did not comply with commands and was shot. I do not believe he fired at officers,’ officials said. Information on the victims will not be released yet,they said.

Three weapons were found after police detained Ikner: one handgun,a shotgun,and another weapon.

‘This event is tragic in more ways than you people in the audience could ever phantom from a law enforcement perspective,’ Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said. Ikner had been a part of the Youth Advisory Council of the Sheriff’s office before the shooting.

The shooting today happened just a day after the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting,which saw 32 people die when a gunman entered that university’s library and opened fire.

Some of the students who were forced into lockdown had already survived another mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,Florida,in 2018,where 17 were killed and 17 others injured.

Staff and students were seen with their hands raised as they evacuated – a scene far too familiar after mass shootings (Picture: Reuters)

Students appeared in a state of shock (Picture: Reuters)

One of the high school students who survived that shooting,Josh Gallagher,is a current student at FSU.

He wrote on X: ‘After living through the MSD shooting in 2018,I never thought it would hit close to home again. Then I’m in the FSU Law Library and hear an alarm: active shooter on campus.

‘No matter your politics,we need to meet—and something has to change. Prayers to the victims and families.’

Student Angel Dejesus recalled he and his classmates hiding in a small room.

He told the Tallahassee Democrat the situation got ‘much more seroius’ when a student who lived through the Parkland shooting entered and said: ‘Man,I never thought this would happen again.’

Student McKenzie Heeter recalled: ‘I was leaving the Union with my food. There’s a road next to it,and I was walking,and this guy pulls up in an orange Hummer,and he gets out with a rifle and shoots in my direction. There were a couple of other kids near me.

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‘I think he was shooting,and he missed. So he goes back into his car and grabs a pistol,then he turns and shoots the lady in front of him. That’s when I just started running.’

Six people have been reported as injured and are receiving treatment in Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Hospital,according to NBC. One is in critical condition.

A reporter on the scene has said multiple people were loaded into ambulances,and one man was ‘shackled by law enforcement before being taken from the scene.’

Students on FSU campus are exiting an area near the student union with their hands above their head. pic.twitter.com/mWKhDnfjFs

— Jason Delgado (@JasonDelgadoX) April 17,2025

Ryan Cedergren,a 21-year-old communications student,said he and about 30 others hid in the bowling alley in the lower level of the student union after seeing students running from a nearby bar.

‘In that moment,it was survival,’ he said.

First responders have been working tirelessly (Picture: Reuters)

A heavy police force remains on campus (Picture: Reuters)

After about 15 minutes of hiding,university police escorted the students out of the union,and he saw a person getting emergency treatment on the lawn,he said.

Junior Joshua Sirmans,20,was in the university’s main library when he said alarms began going off warning of an active shooter.

Law enforcement officers escorted him and other students out of the library with their hands over their heads,he said.

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Unverified video footage emerging from the scene appears to show at least one victim being carried off by police.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote on X: ‘Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.’

President Donald Trump told reporters: ‘It’s a shame. Horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place,and we’ll have more to say about it later.’