A gunman opened fire Thursday at Florida State University, killing two people and wounded at least six others, police said. The 20-year-old alleged gunman is the stepson of a sheriff's deputy whose former service weapon was used in the shooting, authorities said.
The two people who died were not students at the university, but the shooter is believed to be a student, Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower said.
Police identified the shooter as Phoenix Ikner, 20, the stepson of Jessica Ikner, an 18-year veteran deputy of the Leon County Sheriff's Office. Phoenix Ikner was shot and wounded by police.
"He did not comply with commands and was shot," Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said.
Ikner used his stepmother's former service weapon, which she had purchased, law enforcement said.
"Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her of the weapons that was found at the scene. And we are continuing that investigation into how that weapon was used and what other weapons perhaps, he may have had access to," Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil said.
"The alleged shooter was also a longstanding member of the Leon County Sheriff's Office Citizen Advisory or Youth Advisory Council, so he has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff's Office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have. So it's not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons," McNeil added.
Police believe Ikner acted alone but have not yet revealed a motive for the shooting. They said Ikner invoked his right to counsel.
Five people were being treated at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Trumbower said, and the shooter is also receiving medical attention.
All six patients wounded during the shooting are in fair condition, according to an update from the hospital, which said earlier Thursday that one of those wounded was in critical condition.
A Tallahassee Police Department patrol car was stationed Thursday evening near the street where the suspected shooter's family lives, blocking reporters from approaching the home in a well-kept suburban neighborhood on the city's east side.
FSU president Richard McCullough says he has visited some of the wounded students in the hospital.
McCullough also called the campus police officers "absolute heroes" and says their response to the shooting "prevented this from being a bigger tragedy."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a message posted on social media that "we are all Seminoles today. We stand by to help in any way that we can."
Aidan Stickney, a 21-year-old studying business management, says he was running late to class when he saw a man get out of a car with a shotgun and aim at another man in a white polo shirt.
Stickney says the gun jammed and the shooter rushed back to the car and emerged with a handgun, opening fire on a woman. Stickney ran, warning others as he called 911.
"I got lucky today. I really did. I really, really did," he said.
Trumbower says investigators have no evidence that anyone was shot with the shotgun.
Students and frightened parents hid in a bowling alley and crammed into a freight elevator inside the student union after hearing gunshots outside the building.
Ambulances, fire trucks and patrol vehicles from multiple law enforcement agencies raced toward the campus just west of Florida's capital after the university issued an active shooter alert midday Thursday, saying police were responding near the student union.
Ryan Cedergren, a 21-year-old communications student, said he and about 30 others hid in the bowling alley in the union's lower level after seeing students running from a nearby bar.
"In that moment, it was survival," he said.
After about 15 minutes, university police escorted the students out of the building and he saw a person getting emergency treatment on the lawn, he said.
Chris Pento told WCTV in Tallahassee that he and his twins were getting lunch at the student union during a campus tour when they heard gunshots.
"It was surreal. And people just started running," he told the TV station.
They packed into a service elevator after encountering locked doors at the end of a hallway. "That was probably the scariest point because we didn't know. It could get worse, right?" he said. "The doors opened and two officers were there, guns drawn."
Florida State's alert system announced about three hours after the shooting that law enforcement had "neutralized the threat." Officials asked students and faculty to avoid the student union and other areas still considered an active crime scene.
Dozens of patrol vehicles, including a forensics van, were parked outside the student union. Officers blocked off the area with crime scene tape.
Students and staff who left behind phones, keys and other items in the rush to evacuate waited in the shade and prayed for the victims.
President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office that he had been fully briefed on the shooting. "It's a horrible thing. It's horrible that things like this take place," he said.
After receiving warnings of an active shooter, students and faculty took cover and waited in classrooms, offices and dorms across campus.
The first thing you think of is just, ‘This can't be true,' right?" said Kai McGalla, a sophomore who spoke by phone while locked down at a campus testing center.
Junior Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the main library when alarms went off. Law enforcement officers escorted him and other students from the library with their hands over their heads, he said.
Ikner, a registered Republican according to voter records, was quoted by the FSU student newspaper in January as an onlooker at a campus protest by around 15 people against President Donald Trump's agenda a day before his inauguration.
"These people are usually pretty entertaining, usually not for good reasons," Ikner, identified as a political science major, told the newspaper. "I think it's a little too late, he's [Trump] already going to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and there's not really much you can do unless you outright revolt, and I don't think anyone wants that."
FSUNews.com removed Ikner's quote from the artcile after the shooting.
Florida State University is one of Florida's 12 public universities, with its main campus in Tallahassee. About 44,000 students are enrolled in the university, per the school's 2024 fact sheet.
In 2014, the main library was the site of a shooting that wounded three people. Officers shot and killed the gunman, 31-year-old Myron May.
The university canceled all classes and events through Friday. It also canceled home athletic events through Sunday.
Newsmax contributed to this report.