A shooting at Florida State University (FSU) on Thursday afternoon left two people dead and six others injured when a student opened fire near the student union.

The suspected gunman, identified as 20-year-old FSU student Phoenix Ikner, was shot by police and is hospitalized, with his condition undisclosed.

Authorities confirmed Ikner, the son of a veteran Leon County sheriff’s deputy, used his mother’s former service weapon in the attack. A shotgun was also recovered at the scene, though its use remains unclear. The two victims killed were not FSU students, but their identities have not been released. The motive for the shooting is still under investigation.

Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil noted that Ikner, a former participant in the sheriff’s youth advisory council, had undergone law enforcement training and had access to weapons. Ikner’s mother, Jessica Ikner, a school resource officer, retained her department-issued firearm after an equipment upgrade.

FSU issued an emergency alert around midday, locking down the campus as police responded to reports of an active shooter. The threat was quickly neutralized, and the university is cooperating with law enforcement in the ongoing investigation.

The shooting drew condolences from state and national leaders. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expressed support for the FSU community and confirmed state assistance in the investigation. President Donald Trump called the incident “a horrible thing” while reaffirming his support for the Second Amendment.

The tragedy has reignited trauma for Florida’s mass shooting survivors, with Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting, noting that some Parkland survivors were on FSU’s campus during the attack. This marks the second shooting at FSU, following a 2015 incident in the university library that injured three.

Authorities are investigating how Ikner accessed the weapons and what drove the attack, vowing a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding the deadly event. (ILKHA)