The gunman accused of killing at least two people and injuring six others on Thursday in a shooting at Florida State University is a current student at the school and his mother is a Leon County sheriff’s deputy, officials said.
The shooter was identified by the police as Phoenix Ikner, 20. Chief Lawrence E. Revell of the Tallahassee, Fla., Police Department said the man accused used his mother’s personal handgun in the shooting.
The authorities said the attacker appeared to have been acting alone. He was in the hospital on Thursday, after being shot and wounded by responding officers for failing to obey their commands.
Few details about the gunman emerged in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Calls to his family and friends on Thursday mostly went unanswered.
The man accused of the shooting graduated in 2022 from Lincoln High School, a public school in Tallahassee. He was a member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office Youth Advisory Council in 2021-2022.
According to the sheriff’s office website, the program is an opportunity for members to help address issues facing young people in their communities. Eligible students must be a rising sophomore, junior or senior at a high school in Leon County, have limited unexcused absences and a minimum grade point average of 2.0.
Jacob West, 18, was part of the same youth advisory council with the suspect. Mr. West said he was shocked to hear the suspect’s name on the news and double-checked his phone to confirm it was the same person. He described the man accused as always “in good spirits,” helpful and always proposing “really good ideas to help Leon County.”
“To hear what had happened was absolutely just heartbreaking,” said Mr. West.
When they were in the youth advisory council together, the suspect was interested in car-racing video games and Minecraft, and he was passionate about vehicles, Mr. West said. The two would talk about the program, as well as pickup trucks and school, Mr. West said.
“He never spoke about guns or anything,” Mr. West said.
The suspect had told Mr. West that he was considering a career in law enforcement, but toward the end of their time with the youth advisory council, he said his interest in the profession had waned, Mr. West recalled. Mr. West said he left the program early, and that the two texted briefly afterward but had not been in touch since.
Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
