After the horrific shooting that took place at Florida State University on Thursday, April 17th, the suspect has been identified.
According to reports, Phoenix Ikner, 20, shot and killed two people and injured five others. He is the son of a local sheriff’s deputy and reportedly spent time “training with law enforcement and served on a sheriff’s advisory council for several years.”
The suspect was taken into custody while carrying his mother’s Jessica Ikner service weapon. Court documents state that Ikner had a rough childhood while living with another woman because he was taken from his biological mother after she was accused of taking him from the US, violating a custody agreement when he was 10 years old.
Sheriff Walter NcNeil explained that the suspect, “was steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family and engaged in a number of training programs that we have, so it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
Since being identified, Ikner’s social media pages have been taken down and was known for his unreasonable behavior while attending FSU. One student, Reid Seybold, said he knew Ikner because they were in the same political science club together. Seybold explained that Ikner was kicked out because he made others feel uncomfortable.
“He had continually made enough people uncomfortable where certain people had stopped coming. That’s kind of when the breaking point with Phoenix, and we asked him to leave,” Seybold said. “It’s been a couple of years now. I can’t give exact quotes. He talked about the ravages of multiculturalism and communism and how it’s ruining America.”
At the moment, authorities have not found a reason behind the shooting. We will keep you posted when updates become available.