Two individuals had been killed and no less than six others wounded throughout a mass shooting at Florida State University (FSU) on Thursday, in accordance with investigators in the USA.
Here’s what we all know to date in regards to the suspect, victims and the investigation into the incident:
What occurred at Florida State College?
A gunman opened hearth exterior the scholar union at FSU near lunchtime on Thursday at 11:50am Jap Time (15:50 GMT).
Upon listening to gunshots, college students and oldsters scrambled to flee. Some sought shelter in a bowling alley and freight carry inside the scholar union.
The college promptly issued an energetic shooter alert. Quickly after, Florida State’s alert system introduced that legislation enforcement had neutralised the risk.
Police later indicated that they shot and wounded the 20-year-old suspect as a way to take him into custody.
The place did the FSU capturing happen?
The capturing occurred exterior the scholar union on the primary FSU campus, which is in Tallahassee, Florida, near the state’s Capitol constructing.
Greater than 42,000 college students are enrolled at FSU’s principal campus. It is among the top-ranked universities within the state.
Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, is about 350km (220 miles) northwest of Orlando.
What do we all know in regards to the alleged attacker and weapons?
Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil has recognized the gunman as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, the son of a neighborhood sheriff’s deputy. His mom, named by US media as Jessica Ikner, has served on the sheriff’s division for 18 years, McNeil stated.
Phoenix Ikner is an FSU pupil, Jason Trumbower, chief of the college’s police power stated throughout a information convention on Thursday.
He had entry to his mom’s handgun, which was as soon as a service weapon however had since change into a private firearm. “Sadly, her son had entry to one among her weapons that was discovered on the scene,” McNeil stated through the information convention.
Moreover the handgun, authorities imagine that Ikner introduced a shotgun to campus. It’s unclear whether or not this shotgun was used within the capturing. Trumbower stated there is no such thing as a proof that anybody was shot with a shotgun.
FSU enterprise administration pupil Aidan Stickney, 21, advised The Related Press he noticed a person get out of a automobile with a shotgun and intention it at one other man. The gun jammed and the attacker ran again to his automobile earlier than returning with a handgun, opening hearth on a lady, in accordance with Stickney, who stated he ran from the scene and warned others.
When the alleged attacker refused to give up, the police shot him and took him into custody.
Authorities haven’t but speculated on or revealed the attacker’s motive.
What do we all know in regards to the victims?
The identities of the victims haven’t been formally confirmed.
The 2 individuals who have died weren’t college students of the college, stated Trumbower, the chief of the college police.
However family and friends have spoken to media to establish the 2 individuals who had been killed. One was Robert Morales, a college eating coordinator whose Linkedin profile indicated he labored at FSU since 2015. He had additionally studied criminology on the faculty, and his father was a Cuban exile turned operative for the Central Intelligence Company (CIA).
“Right this moment we misplaced my youthful Brother, he was one of many victims killed at FSU,” Ricardo Morales Jr. posted on social media on Thursday. “He cherished his job at FSU and his lovely Spouse and Daughter.”
The opposite individual killed was recognized as Tiru Chabba, a meals service vendor for the hospitality firm Aramark. The 45-year-old hailed from Greenville, South Carolina, and was a married father of two.
“Tiru Chabba’s household goes by way of the unimaginable now,” Bakari Sellers, a lawyer for his household, stated in a press release. “As a substitute of hiding Easter eggs and visiting with family and friends, they’re residing a nightmare the place this loving father and devoted husband was stolen from them in an act of mindless and preventable violence.”
5 individuals had been additionally wounded by gunfire in Thursday’s assault, whereas a sixth was injured whereas attempting to run away.
The survivors are being handled at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. That is additionally the place the attacker is being handled. The extent of the victims’ or the attacker’s accidents shouldn’t be identified. An announcement launched by the hospital says: “Right now, particulars are nonetheless unfolding, and we don’t but have particular data to share.”
What have been the reactions to this incident?
US President Donald Trump stated he had been briefed on the incident at FSU whereas talking to reporters on the Oval Workplace. “It’s a horrible factor. It’s horrible that issues like this happen,” he stated.
Nevertheless, he did recommend he is not going to again new laws on weapons. “The gun doesn’t do the capturing, the individuals do,” stated Trump.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded to the capturing in a collection of posts and a video posted on X. “Our prayers are with our FSU household and state legislation enforcement is actively responding,” he wrote.
We stand with Florida State College. Right this moment, we’re all Seminoles. pic.twitter.com/dUMW3eL48r
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 17, 2025
All lessons on the FSU principal campus for Thursday and Friday had been cancelled. DeSantis has ordered flags all through the state to be flown at half-staff to honour the victims.
What number of shootings have taken place within the US to date this yr?
There have been 81 mass shootings within the US in 2025 to date, in accordance with not-for-profit web site Gun Violence Archive. This contains the FSU capturing on Thursday.
In January, a 17-year-old suspect shot and killed a feminine highschool pupil in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier than killing himself, legislation enforcement officers stated.
The Thursday capturing was the second capturing at FSU in 11 years. In 2014, a graduate opened hearth on the principal library, wounding two college students and an worker. The gunman was shot and killed by the police.
What are the gun legal guidelines within the US?
The correct to purchase and carry a gun is assured within the US Structure.
The Second Modification of the US Structure states: “A well-regulated Militia, being essential to the safety of a free State, the best of the individuals to maintain and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
In 2022, former US President Joe Biden signed into legislation the first major federal gun reform in three many years. This bipartisan bill strengthened background checks for the youngest gun patrons and helped states introduce legal guidelines that make it simpler for authorities to grab weapons from individuals believed to be harmful.
Nevertheless, the principles of gun possession fluctuate relying on the state.
Florida, for instance, was infamous for having comparatively relaxed gun legal guidelines till 2018, when the state handed new restrictions following a lethal capturing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive College in Parkland.
The brand new rules allowed for excessive threat safety orders, which prohibit gun entry from individuals believed to be harmful. In addition they raised the minimal age for buying weapons to 21.
However gun-rights advocates have sought to repeal the brand new restrictions, identified collectively because the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive College Public Security Act. In March, the Florida Home of Representatives additionally voted to decrease the minimal age for buying “lengthy weapons” like rifles to 18, although the legislation has but to be handed within the state Senate.
Will gun legal guidelines be tightened within the US?
This can be a extremely contested topic. About 58 p.c of American adults favour stricter gun legal guidelines, in accordance with a report by the Pew Analysis Heart, revealed in July 2024.
Samantha Barrios, the Florida state director on the gun violence prevention organisation GIFFORDS, stated in a press release: “Florida Governor Ron DeSantis supplied his prayers to the scholars and college at FSU, however prayers usually are not sufficient. It’s time for actual motion. It’s time to shut loopholes and move gun security legal guidelines that we all know work, not repeal the bipartisan measures Floridians applied after Parkland.”
GIFFORDS is led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a capturing at a political occasion in Arizona.
Nevertheless, legislators have been reluctant to make any vital adjustments. Moreover, on February 7, Trump signed an government order “to finish the federal authorities’s violation” of the Second Modification.
This order seeks to “dismantle gun management”, repealing measures taken by the Biden administration to control firearm use.
Moreover the bipartisan invoice Biden signed in 2022, he launched different gun management measures. In April 2024, Biden launched a rule requiring on-line gun sellers or individuals who promote firearms at gun exhibits to conduct background checks on their clients. In September 2024, he signed an government order establishing a activity power to crack down on machine-gun conversion gadgets and unserialised, 3D-printed weapons.
“President Trump’s government order may reopen the untraceable ghost gun market and undermine actions to guard People from gun trafficking and violent crime,” a press release by Brady United, a nonprofit organisation in opposition to gun violence, stated.
Whereas some organisations advocate for regulation of gun use, others foyer in opposition to it.
The Nationwide Rifle Affiliation (NRA) began as a leisure group for rifle capturing in 1871, however has burgeoned right into a political organisation campaigning in opposition to gun management. An article by the NRA says gun management locations limits on the liberty assured by the Second Modification.
The NRA’s argument is: “Criminals, by definition, don’t obey the legislation. Gun management legal guidelines solely have an effect on law-abiding individuals who undergo authorized avenues to acquire firearms.”
