The 20-year-old son of the sheriff’s aide fired his mother’s former service weapon at Florida State University on Thursday, killing two men and injuring at least six people, investigators said.
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Rebel said he arrived shortly after officers refused to comply with the orders and shot and killed the shooter.
Authorities have yet to disclose the motivation for the filming that began around lunchtime just outside the Student Union.
The shooter identified by police as Phoenix Echner is believed to be a Florida student, investigators said. The two men who died were not students, Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trambower added that he would not release any additional information about the victim.
The shooter has been in the sheriff’s office for over 18 years and gained access to a weapon belonging to his mother, a model employee, Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeill said. Police say they believe Ichner used his mother’s previous service handgun to shoot the victim.
Five injured people were shot, but the sixth was injured while trying to escape, Revell said in a statement Thursday night. Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare said in a Facebook post.
The suspect was a longtime member of the Sheriff’s Office Youth Advisory Committee, the sheriff’s office said.
“He was immersed in the family at the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and was involved in many of the training programs we have,” McNeill said. “So it’s no surprise to us that he has access to weapons.”
As of Thursday night, Ichner was in the hospital with “serious but non-life-threatening injuries.”
Witness says the suspect’s shotgun was jammed
After the university issued an active shooter alert, ambulances, fire trucks and patrol vehicles from multiple law enforcement ran towards the campus just west of the Florida capital.
Aidan Stickney, a 21-year-old studying manager, was running late to class when he saw him out of the car with a shotgun and targeting another man in a white polo shirt.
Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeill shared information about the shooting suspect at a press conference Thursday.
The gun was choked, Stickney said, and the shooter rushed back to his car and showed up with a handgun, setting the woman on fire. Stickney ran and warned others that it was called 911.
“I’m lucky today. I really did it. I really, really, really did it,” he said.
Trambower said investigators had no evidence that anyone was shot with a shotgun.
The shot sent scattered students
Ryan Sederglen, a 21-year-old communications student, said he and about 30 people were hiding in a bowling alley at the union’s lower level after seeing students running from a nearby bar.
“At that moment, it was survival,” he said.
Chris Pent said he and his twins were having lunch at the Student Union during a campus tour when they heard the gunshots. “It was surreal and people just started running,” he told WCTV in Tallahassee.
They packed into the service elevator after encountering a locked door at the edge of the hallway. “It was probably the most frightening point because we didn’t know. It could get worse, right?” he said. “The door opened, two policemen were there, a gun was drawn.”
Dozens of patrol vehicles, including forensic vans, were parked outside the Student Union hours after the shooting. Officers blocked the area with crime scene tapes.
Students and staff who quickly evacuated phones, keys and other items waited in the shade to pray for the victims.
Shooting shocks campus and nation
President Donald Trump said he received a full explanation of the shooting from his oval office. “It’s scary, and it’s scary when something like this happens,” he said.
But Trump also suggested he would not defend the new gun laws, saying, “guns don’t shoot, people do.”
After receiving the warning from an active shooter, students and faculty members hid in waiting in classrooms, offices and dorms throughout campus.
The first thing you think about is, “This is not true.” said sophomore Kaimakugara, who spoke on the phone during lockdown at the campus test centre.
A Florida State student described the scene where the two died on the Tallahassee campus Thursday afternoon.
Junior Joshu Ashillmans, 20, was in the main library when the alarm went off. Law enforcement officials said he and other students escorted other students in the library above their heads.
The president of Richard McCullough University said he was heartbroken by the violence. “Our hearts are directed at our students and victims of this horrific tragedy,” he said.
When dusk fell to Florida State University, a small memorial of candles and bouquets of flowers was set up outside the Student Union, and investigators’ yellow tape was blocked from a nearby door.
Another gunshot in Florida 10 years ago
Florida is one of Florida’s 12 public universities and has its main campus in Tallahassee. The university has approximately 44,000 students enrolled in accordance with the school’s 2024 fact sheet.
In 2014, the main library was the location of the shooting that injured three people. Officers shot and killed 31-year-old Myron May.
The university cancelled classes for the rest of the week and canceled home athletic events until Sunday.
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Fisher reported from Fort Lauderdale. Associated Press reporter Stephanie Mattatt West Palm Beach, Kurt Anderson of St. Petersburg, Michael Schneider of Orlando, Mike Balsamo of New York, Eric Tucker and Christopher Megarian of Washington, and John Seawor of Toledo, Ohio contributed to the report.
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