Sheriff’s son kills two at Florida university ‘with mother’s gun’

Phoenix Ikner is in custody after the shooting spree at Florida State University with a gun he was able to access at home; his mother is an 18 year veteran of the local sheriff’s department.

A suspected gunman arrested Thursday (local time) following a mass shooting at Florida State University is the son of a local sheriff deputy, authorities said.

The police found a former service weapon of the Leon County officer at the scene of the shooting that killed two people and wounded at least six others, the Tallahassee Police Department said.

The two people who died weren’t students at Florida State University, but the shooting suspect is believed to be a student at the school, authorities said.

Phoenix Ikner was arrested after the shooting. Picture: Facebook.

The suspect was confronted by campus police not long after gunshots were heard just before noon. When the suspect ignored commands from police, he was shot, authorities said. The suspect was transported to a nearby hospital and remains in custody.

The Leon County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner. His mother is an 18-year veteran of the agency whose “service to this community has been exceptional,” Sheriff Walt McNeil said. Her son was active in the agency’s youth advisory council and had engaged in a number of training programs, the sheriff said.

Deputy Sheriff Jessica Ikner (R) is the mother of the gunman arrested over the Talahassee shooting. Picture: Leon County Sheriff's Office

“It’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons,” said McNeil. The former service weapon found at the scene was a handgun, according to police.

“We will continue that investigation into how that weapon was used, and what other weapons perhaps he may have had access to,” the sheriff said.

I am a current student at Florida State University. This is the video I took while being escorted out by police. I was in class when the shooting started, in the building next to where the sh**ters were. pic.twitter.com/TfuRbp2301

— Holden Mamula (@ignqiny) April 17, 2025

Nicolas Liberoni, a sophomore from Sarasota studying economics and international affairs, said he was in a classroom in a building near the student union when he heard police sirens. He checked his phone and saw text alerts about an active shooter at the school.

The alerts sent to students said a shooter was near the university’s student union, where students gather to eat, grab coffee or shop at the bookstore.

“We all got up and started barricading the door,” he said. “We were very calm.” Once the barricade was in place, he texted his parents.

“I said that I love them and that I’m safe but there’s a shooter on campus,” Liberoni said.

#BREAKING: Active shooter at Florida State University reportedly in custody after being shot. At least 4 victims reported.

Waiting for further updates. pic.twitter.com/ewqkfebiVQ

— Insider Wire (@InsiderWire) April 17, 2025

Then he checked social media for the locations of his other friends. “I was just hoping nobody was hurt,” he said.

Police arrived at the classroom door within minutes, he said, and reassured the roughly 15 students inside that they were safe.

“They kept checking back on us, and we kept giving them thumbs-up to let them know we were still OK,” he said. Police eventually evacuated them as a group, with their hands in the air.

“I was thinking that you see this on the news, the video of kids walking out of a school with their hands up,” Liberoni said. “It was really surreal. Overwhelming.” Parts of the campus reopened around 3pm, after law enforcement secured the area, the university said in an alert. Students were asked to avoid some buildings around the student union that were still being treated as an active crime scene.

The school cancelled all classes and home athletics events through Sunday.

Dow Jones