Two dead in Florida State University Tallahassee campus mass shooting
The suspect who left two people dead and six injured after he opened fire on a Florida university’s campus had a disturbed childhood, as the first tragic victim is identified.
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The biological mother of accused Florida State University shooter Phoenix Ikner, 20, kidnapped him and fled to Norway amid a bitter custody battle a decade before the deadly shooting, court documents reveal.
Anne-Mari Eriksen took her then-11-year-old son to the Scandinavian nation in March 2015 in violation of the custody agreement she had with Christopher Ikner — after telling the father she was taking him to South Florida for spring break, according to a probable cause affidavit from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office viewed by The New York Post.
Eriksen and Phoenix Ikner, who at the time went by his birth name, Christian Gunnar Eriksen, both have American and Norwegian citizenship.
“Instead of staying in South Florida, the defendant allegedly fled the country with him in violation of their custody agreement,” the affidavit stated.
Months later, in October 2015, Mr Eriksen filed a lawsuit.
“The emotional and psychological harm done to the minor child will be evident for years, and will require counselling, and given the child being the age of 11, will have memory impacted by the behaviours of all the defendants for the false claims done on his mother, and for the parental alienation of the close relationship
of the minor child,” the suit stated.
Eriksen sought US$80,000 in damages to use toward the boy’s college fund.
Phoenix Ikner was also listed as a plaintiff in the suit, which was dismissed seven months later.
Christian Gunnar Eriksen changed his name to Phoenix Ikner in 2020.
The now-20-year-old is accused of opening fire on the Tallahassee campus, killing two people and wounding five others, on Thursday afternoon.
The deadly rampage began near the campus’s student union building.
Terrifying video captured the moment a gunman walked through the area, firing shots from a handgun believed to be the old service weapon owned by his stepmom, Jessica Ikner.
Heavily armed first responders converged on the area and confronted the gunman.
Officials say Ikner didn’t comply with commands and was shot before being taken into police custody.
‘THE WHOLE FAMILY IS NUTS’: SOURCE
He was hospitalised for his injuries.
Before the suspected gunman’s identity was revealed to the public, Eriksen ranted against Christopher and Jessica Ikner for failing to communicate with her regarding her son’s whereabouts.
“Horrible when your alienating son’s dad is as mentally unstable as he is, along with his LCSO cop wife, that they can’t respond when you write to ask if everything is all right with my son, who studies at FSU,” Eriksen wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post viewed by the Daily Mail.
“That whole familly [sic] is nuts. He should write a book on how to parent badly, but he can’t communicate,” Eriksen added.
“Feel sorry for everyone at FSU and their kids.”
Officials have not revealed a motive behind the attack.
The New York Post reported the suspect was known for racist views and banned from a university political club.
FIRST VICTIM IDENTIFIED; INJURED WILL FULLY RECOVER
An employee for food services company Aramark has been identified as one of the two victims who were killed in Thursday’s Florida State University shooting.
The Aramark employee, identified by family as Robert Morales, was shot dead when 20-year-old FSU student Phoenix Ikner opened fire at the Tallahassee campus on Thursday afternoon, killing two people and wounding six others.
“We are heartbroken to confirm that an Aramark employee was among those killed at FSU yesterday in that senseless act of violence,” an Aramark spokesperson told WPTV in a statement.
The company, which provides food to schools, hospitals and other large facilities, said it was left “absolutely shaken” by the employee’s death.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the family and our entire Aramark community,” the company said.
All five people who were wounded are expected to make a “full recovery,” doctors said.
Dr Brett Howard, a surgeon at Tallahassee Memorial Health, where the suspect and victims were rushed after the attack, said “all six of them today are in stable condition.”
SHOOTING SUSPECT’S ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ MUM IS A COP
It comes as the alleged mass shooter’s rampage at Florida State University in Tallahassee left two people dead and as many as six injured, with police identifying the suspect as the son of a local deputy sheriff.
Ikner had access to his mother’s weapons and brought one of her pistols with him to campus, Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil confirmed during a press conference hours after the shooting.
“Deputy Ikner has been with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office for over 18 years. She has done a tremendous job … her service to this community has been exceptional,” McNeil said.
“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons, and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene.”
He was also found in possession of a shotgun, though it is unclear whether he used it in the alleged attack. Some witnesses described the shooter unloading with a rifle-shaped gun before switching to a pistol, The New York Post reports.
Ikner was also a member of the Youth Advisory Council of the sheriff’s office.
“The alleged shooter was also a longstanding member of Leon County Sheriff’s Office, citizen advisory or Youth Advisory Council … So it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons,” McNeil said.
He added: “This event is tragic in more ways than you people in the audience could ever fathom from a law enforcement perspective”.
Footage circulating online appears to show a bloodied and shackled individual being loaded into an ambulance.
A handgun was located on the suspect, while one shotgun was found in the school’s student union area and another was recovered in the suspect’s car, CNN reported.
We all need to pray for Florida.
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) April 17, 2025
At least four people were reportedly injured at Florida State University (FSU), where a sh**ting just took place.
A suspect is in custody…
pic.twitter.com/kV9sAQtZ5W
Other footage showed crowds fleeing from the campus as sirens rang out after gunshots were heard near the student union area around midday local time.
“Police are on scene or on the way. Continue to seek shelter and await further instructions,” an alert to those in the area said.
‘SHOOTS THE LADY IN FRONT OF HIM’
Witnesses said the gunman first fired a rifle before returning to his orange Hummer to grab a pistol and shoot a woman, The New York Post reports.
“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 other kids near me,” FSU junior McKenzie Heeter told NBC News.
“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.”
Heeter first thought the gunman had a BB gun with him – but said there was no mistaking what was happening once he opened fire.
She said the suspect looked like a “normal college dude,” describing him as a white man with light hair, wearing an orange T-shirt and khaki shorts.
A 21-year-old FSU student Emily Palmer told CNN she was shaken after the incident and worried about those still on campus.
“I’m concerned about my friends,” she said.
“I have friends in class right now who are getting evacuated by police with their hands up.”
Students with their hands in the air were also escorted from the scene by police officers.
“Lock and stay away from all doors and windows and be prepared to take additional protective measures.”
Inside of a Florida State University classroom #floridastateuniversity#tallahassee#Florida#guncontrolnow#stateunion#GoodFriday#HolyThursday#Easter#fsu#prayersforfsupic.twitter.com/GfY6grmnNv
— Breaking News Worldwide (@FelizKarenP1) April 17, 2025
SOME STUDENTS ARE PARKLAND MASSACRE SURVIVORS
A father whose child was murdered in the Parkland High School shooting revealed that several of his daughter’s surviving classmates were at FSU when a gunman opened fire on students, The New York Post reports.
“America is broken. My daughter Jaime was murdered in the Parkland school shooting. Many of her friends who were lucky enough to survive that shooting went on to attend FSU,” father Fred Guttenberg wrote on X shortly after gunfire broke out at FSU’s Tallahassee campus.
“Incredibly, some of them were just a part of their 2nd school shooting and some were in the student union today. As a father, all I ever wanted after the Parkland shooting was to help our children be safe.”
“Sadly, because of the many people who refuse to do the right things about reducing gun violence, I am not surprised by what happened today,” wrote the anti-gun violence advocate.
Guttenberg’s 14-year-old daughter Jamie was among 17 people killed when a deranged gunman opened fire at the high school in February 2018.
‘HORRIBLE THING’: PRESIDENT TRUMP REACTS
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the unfolding situation.
“It’s a shame. Horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
“And we’ll have more to say about it later.”
Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis wrote on X: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.”
FBI Director Kash Patel urged Americans to “keep the FSU community in your prayers”.
“My team and I have been briefed on the tragic shooting at Florida State and our FBI
Jacksonville team is on the ground assisting,” he said.
“We will provide full support to local law enforcement as needed.”
The school was the scene of another shooting in 2014 when a gunman wounded three people in the campus library.
- additional reporting AFP
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Originally published as Two dead in Florida State University Tallahassee campus mass shooting
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