The suspected gunman who stormed Florida State University last week, killing two people and wounding five others, was shot in the jaw by campus police during the incident, authorities said.
FSU police shot the suspect, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, once in the jaw during their April 17 confrontation with him to prevent further tragedy, Tallahassee police told CBS News Miami in an email Thursday.
As of Thursday morning, the alleged shooter remains hospitalized with “significant injuries” but is expected to survive, police said.
“His release will depend on his progress and will be determined by the medical professionals overseeing his care,” Tallahassee police said.
Police said they will provide further updates once he is released from the hospital and formally charged.
Police told CBS News Miami that the Florida state attorney’s office will determine what charges the alleged shooter will face, and police cannot speak to all the specific charges that may be filed, but know that “they will be up to and including first-degree murder.”
The shooting remains under investigation
According to police, the alleged gunman opened fire on FSU’s main campus just before noon on April 17, shooting at multiple individuals and killing two people. Five other people were struck by gunfire before campus police confronted the alleged gunman, shot him and took him into custody. A sixth person was also injured while running away from the shooting but was not wounded by gunfire, police confirmed.
Family members identified the two people killed as Tiru Chabba, a 45-year-old campus vendor employee, and Robert Morales, a 57-year-old university dining services employee.
The five victims who were wounded by gunfire were taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in stable condition and treated for gunshot wounds, one of whom was 23-year-old FSU graduate student Madison Askins.
On Tuesday, the five gunshot victims were discharged from the hospital.
The suspect, who was also hospitalized with the gunshot wound victims, was identified by police as a current FSU student and the stepson of Leon County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Ikner. According to Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil, he was involved with some programs at the sheriff’s office.
Authorities said the weapon used by the alleged shooter was Jessica Ikner’s former service weapon that she owned as a personal handgun at the time of the shooting. McNeil said Jessica Ikner had worked at the agency for 18 years. The LCSO website states that she worked as a school resource deputy. However, officials did not say exactly how the suspect got hold of the weapon.
The suspect’s complicated history
Court records obtained by CBS News revealed that the alleged gunman was in a years-long custody battle between his birth parents Anne-Mari Eriksen and Christopher Ikner from 2007 through 2023. Public records showed that the suspect’s father married Jessica Ikner, the deputy and the suspect’s stepmother, in 2010.
Other court records showed that Anne-Mari Erikson, Christopher and Jessica Ikner were involved in several legal disputes, including a libel case and other civil lawsuits, including a 2015 custody violation incident where Anne-Mari Eriksen told Christopher Ikner that she was taking their then-10-year-old son to South Florida for spring break but instead, left the U.S. and traveled to Norway.
At the time of the custody violation case, Christopher Ikner told authorities that his son had “developmental delays” and “special needs,” taking medication for “severe health and mental issues,” including ADHD and a growth hormone disorder.
Various interactions with the suspect were shared with CBS News; however, the claims have not been independently verified.
According to one FSU student, the alleged shooter was involved in a political club at a former college; however, he was asked to leave the group after espousing white supremacist rhetoric that “made enough people uncomfortable.” Seybold also said the suspect appeared to be “fairly normal” when he was seen around campus and won’t speculate on his motive.
Another student, who was in the same grade as the suspect in middle and high school, told CBS News that they rode the same school bus together in 6th and 7th grades, before switching to a special education transportation option in 8th grade. He was in a combination of regular and special education classes, and was seen being picked up from school by Jessica Ikner while she was in uniform, the student said.
Another student, who was a year younger than the suspect, also told CBS News that they attended middle school with the alleged gunman and shared a yearbook photo of him from 2018 that showed the name “Christian Eriksen” under his picture.
