Police identify gunman as 20-year-old son of local sheriff’s deputy in attack that also wounded five.The 20-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy opened fire at Florida State University with his mother’s former service weapon, killing two people and wounding at least six others, investigators said.
The attack on Friday occurred at approximately 11:50am Eastern Time (15:50 GMT) outside of the Tallahassee school’s student union.
The university swiftly issued an active shooter alert, with Florida State’s alert system announcing that law enforcement had “neutralised the threat” soon after.
Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower said that the two people killed, who were not immediately identified, were not students at the school.
Five other people were being treated at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where the attacker was also being treated after being taken into custody, he said.
Evacuees watch law enforcement at Florida State University following a shooting [Alicia Devine/USA TODAY via Reuters]
Speaking from the Oval Office, United States President Donald Trump said that he had been “fully briefed.” Advertisement
“It’s a horrible thing. It’s horrible that things like this take place,” Trump said.
He quickly pivoted to voicing support for gun ownership, saying, “These things are terrible, but the gun doesn’t do the shooting. The people do.”
Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil later identified the suspect as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, the son of a sheriff’s deputy within his own department.
He said Ikner used his mother’s former service weapon in the attack, adding the attacker had been a longstanding member of the sheriff’s office’s youth advisory council and engaged in a number of training programmes with the offic …
