The gunman behind the deadly shooting at Florida State University has been identified as Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old Trump supporter who openly embraced white supremacist ideology and far-right politics. Two people were killed and six others wounded during Thursday’s rampage on campus. Authorities say Ikner acted alone and used a former service weapon that belonged to his mother, a longtime sheriff’s deputy.
Ikner, who attended FSU after transferring from Tallahassee State College, had long been known among classmates for his extreme views. Reid Seybold, a fellow student and former president of a political club Ikner once attended, said Ikner had been removed from the group due to his rhetoric.
“Basically our only rule was no Nazis — colloquially speaking — and he espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric, and far-right rhetoric, as well, to the point where we had to exercise that rule,” Seybold told NBC News. He said Ikner’s politics went “beyond conservatism,” and added, “He had continually made enough people uncomfortable where certain people had stopped coming. That’s kind of when we reached the breaking point with Phoenix, and we asked him to leave.”
Seybold was in the Bellamy Building near the Student Union when shots rang out. “I was texting everybody I love, letting them know that I love them,” he said. “I was, I was getting ready to die.”
Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil confirmed the identity of the shooter as Phoenix Ikner, the son of Deputy Jessica Ikner, an 18-year veteran of the sheriff’s office who also served as a school resource officer. Her profile was quietly removed from the sheriff’s website by Thursday evening. McNeil said Ikner was part of the agency’s Youth Advisory Council and had law enforcement training. “It’s not a surprise that he had access to firearms,” the sheriff said.
“This event is tragic in more ways than you people in the audience could ever fathom from a law enforcement perspective,” McNeil told reporters. “But I will tell you this, we will make sure we send a message to folks that this will never be tolerated here in Leon County, and I dare say, across this state and across this nation.”
According to police, Ikner used his mother’s former service weapon during the shooting. Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said the suspect had invoked his right to remain silent and investigators had not yet established a motive.
Watch Seybold’s interview below from NBC News:
Ikner’s background paints a picture of turmoil and instability. Born Christian Eriksen, he was at the center of a custody battle that turned international. Court records identify Anne-Mari Eriksen, a dual U.S.-Norwegian citizen, as his biological mother. In 2015, when Ikner was just ten years old, she took him to Norway without the father’s permission. She was later sentenced to 200 days in jail after pleading no contest to interference with custody. At the time, she was also ordered to have no contact with her son. She later tried to reverse her plea, claiming duress, but her appeal was denied. It is unclear whether the two had reconnected in recent years.
Ikner was registered as a Republican and voted in the 2022 election. Earlier this year, he was interviewed by FSU’s student newspaper, where he dismissed anti-Trump protesters on campus as “entertaining.” He told the paper, “I think it’s a little too late, he’s already going to be inaugurated on January 20 and there’s not really much you can do unless you outright revolt, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”
His now-deleted Instagram account featured a dark quote from the Book of Jeremiah: “You are my war club, my weapons for battle, with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms.”
The university locked down its campus shortly after reports of an active shooter near the Student Union surfaced around midday Thursday. “An active shooter has been reported in the area of Student Union,” the university posted on X. “Police are on scene or on the way. Continue to seek shelter and await further instructions. Lock and stay away from all doors and windows and be prepared to take additional protective measures.”
Witnesses described scenes of chaos and confusion. Mckenzie Heeter said she saw a man in an orange T-shirt and khaki shorts, who looked like “a normal college dude,” firing as many as 15 rounds from an orange Hummer. Social media was flooded with videos showing students running, hiding under desks, and leaving behind backpacks and food as they fled for their lives.
“I could have sworn I saw a cop running after somebody and screaming something when we ran out,” said Will Schatz, a student who was evacuated from Strozier Library. “Then when I got out, I heard seven to eight gunshots. I’m not sure if that was the shooter shooting or if the cops shot the shooter.”
At around 1:15 p.m., police announced that the suspect had been taken into custody. His arrest brings an end to the immediate threat, but questions remain—about how someone so openly radicalized, with ties to law enforcement and a deeply troubled past, was able to commit such a violent act on a college campus. For now, a community mourns, and a nation takes notice.
