What we know on the Florida State University shooting: Victims, FBI investigation and more
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Where and when did the shooting happen?
The shooter got out of an orange Hummer and opened fire near the student union at 11:50 a.m., police and witnesses have said.
FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower said he shot multiple people before officers were able to engage, neutralize and apprehend him.
Were there any victims?
Two people were killed, Trumbower said. Six others were injured, with at least five being treated for gunshot wounds in hospitals, he said.
All six patients wounded during the shooting are in fair condition, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital said Thursday night. The suspect was also wounded.
In a statement Thursday night, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said an eighth person was injured while attempting to run away from the shooting scene. It was not clear if that person was taken to the hospital.
None of the victims' identities have been released, but authorities have said the two who died were not FSU students.
Who is the suspect?
Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil identified the suspect Thursday as Phoenix Ikner, 20.
Ikner is the son of a sheriff's deputy, McNeil said, and is believed to be a student at FSU.
Ikner was a member of the Leon County Sheriff's Office's Youth Advisory Council, which made it unsurprising that he had access to weapons, McNeil said.
McKenzie Heeter, a junior at FSU who witnessed the shooting, described him as a "normal college dude."
The shooter was hospitalized with unspecified injuries, police said Thursday. His injuries were serious but non-life-threatening, Revell said.
Reid Seybold, a classmate of Ikner's, said they were in a political discussion group together when they attended Tallahassee State College. Seybold, the group's president, said he had to ask Ikner not to return to the club because of his white supremacist views.
What kind of gun was used?
Officials said a gun that belonged to the suspect's mother was found at the scene.
It was a former service weapon, which she had purchased and owned, authorities said.
Police said the shooter had a shotgun with him but could not confirm whether it was used.
Is there a motive?
Police have not yet identified a motive.
"I don't know why he would have done something like this," said Seybold, the former classmate. "I don't know where it would have come from, but I'd sure like to find out."
The 16th was the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting, in which 32 people were killed.
School and college shootings are unfortunately becoming routine here.
This is a tragedy, but there is so much about this incident that we just do not know. Some reporting shows that the shooter was in a mix of normal and special education classes while in primary school. Was he under a doctor's care, was he prescribed drugs for any mental or emotional issues? What 'signs' were seen and ignored or just missed before this day?
Sadly we will very soon hear the usual drumbeats about gun control rather than looking into underlying issues and doing the hard work.
"Seybold, the group's president, said he had to ask Ikner not to return to the club because of his white supremacist views."
And or course some will jump onto this unsubstantiated statement to demonize whites.
I'd say most of us know the difference between "whites" and "white supremacists". So far, the only comment here equating the two has been yours.