[A hand with a gun taped down. Photo credit toPexels]

On April 17th, 2025, a 20-year-old suspect shot fire near a student union at Florida State University (FSU), forcing students to immediately flee the scene.

The suspect allegedly fired randomly inside multiple buildings, with officers later discovering his preparation to shoot more students and faculties if he had not been stopped by a university officer.

The suspect was taken into custody just 2 minutes after 911 was contacted.

Unfortunately, despite the immediate actions, the shooting resulted in 2 deaths, including a university dining coordinator and an employee of a campus vendor, and 5 injured.

The suspect, Phoenix Ikner, has been identified as a student at FSU and the stepson of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy, leaving the community in utter shock.

He had an AR-15 rifle in his car, a shotgun in the student union, along with the service weapon he used.

CNN mentioned that Ikner had previously made his peers uncomfortable due to his extreme views such as describing Rosa Parks as being “in the wrong,” expressing support for Nazi symbols, and more.

Police further stated that there appears to be no relations between the victims and the suspect, bringing fear to the school body from a shooting with no apparent motive.

Following the incident, the president of FSU announced that the students won’t be required to attend classes during this semester’s final week.

This shooting adds to the vast number of shootings so far this year, tallying the 6th mass shooting in Florida and the 81st across the country.

Community members have shared their concerns regarding the tragedy.

A high school student who wished to remain anonymous stated, “I can’t believe several lives had to be sacrificed once again. I hate to see how almost every month, so many people are killed due to one’s immature and wrongful actions. I really hope the number of such cases will start to decrease soon if not now.”

A current college student expressed, “I was so shook by this news. Imagining how this is also a possibility for me and not just others terrifies me. I wish there was a way to send my empathy to those that might be grieving from the distress. I hope I won’t have to hear about similar news any time soon.”

Another anonymous middle schooler said, “I think sadly, mass shootings have started to become a terrifying yet normalized action to some people. I don’t understand why people find it necessary to kill even worse with it being their peers. Seeing someone that has even received officer training be the perpetrator is insane to me with the fact that the suspect’s parents were even officers. This news is horrifying, and I feel terrible for anyone that might’ve had a loss from the incident.”

The shooting has deeply affected the university community and renewed concerns about campus safety across the nation.

Memorial services for the victims are expected to be announced in the coming days.

Support services have been made available for students and staff affected by the tragedy.