2 people killed and at least 6 wounded in shooting at Florida State University, authorities say

Two people were killed and at least six people injured after a shooting on Florida State University's campus on Thursday.

All six patients wounded during the shooting are in fair condition, according to an update from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. The hospital said earlier Thursday that one of those wounded was in critical condition.

The alleged shooter is among the wounded, having been shot by arriving officers after refusing to comply with commands, officials said.

Two people who were not FSU students died in the shooting. FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower says he will not be releasing additional information about the victims.

Authorities say the accused gunman is 20-year-old student Phoenix Ikner. He's the son of a local sheriff's deputy and was part of the Leon County Sheriff's Office Youth Advisory Council. Law enforcement believes he had access to one of his mother's service weapons.

Ambulances, fire trucks and patrol vehicles from multiple law enforcement agencies raced toward the campus just west of Florida's capital after the university issued an active shooter alert midday Thursday, saying police were responding near the student union.

Ryan Cedergren, a 21-year-old communications student, said he and about 30 others hid in the bowling alley in the union's lower level after seeing students running from a nearby bar.

“In that moment, it was survival,” he said.

After about 15 minutes, university police escorted the students out of the building and he saw a person getting emergency treatment on the lawn, he said.

Chris Pento told WCTV in Tallahassee that he and his twins were getting lunch at the student union during a campus tour when they heard gunshots.

“It was surreal. And people just started running,” he told the TV station.

They packed into a service elevator after encountering locked doors at the end of a hallway. “That was probably the scariest point because we didn’t know. It could get worse, right?” he said. “The doors opened and two officers were there, guns drawn.”

Douglas Soule

/

WUSF

Florida State’s alert system announced about three hours after the shooting that law enforcement had "neutralized the threat." Officials asked students and faculty to avoid the student union and other areas still considered an active crime scene.

Dozens of patrol vehicles, including a forensics van, were parked outside the student union. Officers blocked off the area with crime scene tape.

Students and staff who left behind phones, keys and other items in the rush to evacuate waited in the shade and prayed for the victims.

President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office that he had been fully briefed on the shooting. “It’s a horrible thing. It’s horrible that things like this take place,” he said.

Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, took to social media to say law enforcement was responding and sent his prayers.

After receiving warnings of an active shooter, students and faculty took cover and waited in classrooms, offices and dorms across campus.

The first thing you think of is just, ‘This can’t be true,’ right?” said Kai McGalla, a sophomore who spoke by phone while locked down at a campus testing center.

Junior Joshua Sirmans, 20, was in the main library when alarms went off. Law enforcement officers escorted him and other students from the library with their hands over their heads, he said.

Florida State University is one of Florida’s 12 public universities, with its main campus in Tallahassee. About 44,000 students are enrolled in the university, per the school’s 2024 fact sheet.

In 2014, the main library was the site of a shooting that wounded three people. Officers shot and killed the gunman, 31-year-old Myron May.

Classes were canceled through Friday, and all athletic events were canceled through Sunday.

This is a developing story. Stay with WUSF for updates.