Fear and panic at Florida State as deadly shooting sends students fleeing
TALLAHASSEE Fla AP When a -year-old opened fire at Florida State University terrified students barricaded doors and fled across campus abandoning chemistry notes and even shoes in a shooting that investigators announced killed two men and wounded at least six others By early Friday memorials of candles and flowers dotted the campus and a school-wide vigil had been scheduled as students and faculty tried to start healing from the previous day s shooting which sent shockwaves of fear across the campus I heard selected gunshots and then you know just blacked out after commented Carolina Sena a -year-old accounting apprentice who was inside the trainee union when the shooting started Everyone was crying and just panicking We were trying to barricade ourselves in a little corner in the basement trying to protect ourselves as much as we could The shooter identified by police as Phoenix Ikner is presumed to be a Florida State apprentice and the son of a sheriff s deputy who opened fire with his mother s former utility weapon investigators commented Leadership have not yet revealed a motive for the shooting which began around lunchtime Thursday just outside the candidate union Officers briskly arrived and shot and wounded the gunman after he refused to comply with commands stated Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell The two men who were killed were not students explained Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower adding that he would not release additional information about the casualties The shooter obtained access to a weapon that belongs to his mother who has been with the sheriff s office for over years and has been a model employee noted Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil Police noted they deduced Ikner shot the casualties using his mother s former provision handgun which she had kept for personal use after the force upgraded to new weapons Five people who were wounded were struck by gunfire while a sixth was hurt while trying to run away Revell stated in a declaration Thursday night They were all in fair condition a spokesperson for Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare reported The shooter was a long-standing member of the sheriff s office s youth advisory council the sheriff explained He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff s Office family engaged in a number of training programs that we have McNeil disclosed So it s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons As of Thursday night Ikner was in the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries according to Revell Witness says the suspect s shotgun jammed Ambulances fire trucks and patrol vehicles from multiple law enforcement agencies raced toward the campus just west of Florida s capital after the university issued an ongoing shooter alert Aidan Stickney a -year-old studying business management was running late to class when he declared he saw a man get out of a car with a shotgun and aim at another man in a white polo shirt The gun jammed Stickney announced and the shooter rushed back to his car and emerged with a handgun opening fire on a woman Stickney ran warning others as he called I got lucky this day I really did I really really did he commented Trumbower noted investigators have no evidence that anyone was shot with the shotgun Shots sent students scattering Holden Mendez a -year-old attendee studying political science and international affairs commented he had just left the attendee union when he heard a series of shots He ran into a nearby campus building where he announced his previous urgency response training kicked in There was a lot of fear There was a lot of panic There was a lot of misinformation that was being spread around I was doing my best to kind of combat that he noted I described people Take a deep breath This building is secure Everything is going to be ok ' Andres Perez was in a classroom near the scholar union when the alarm sounded for a lockdown He announced his classmates began moving desks in front of the door and police officers came to escort them out I inevitably hang out in the participant union Perez noted So the second I exposed out that the threat was there my heart sank and I was scared Shooting shocks campus and the nation President Donald Trump noted from the Oval Office that he had been fully briefed on the shooting It s a horrible thing It s horrible that things like this take place he declared But Trump also suggested that he would not be advocating for any new gun rule saying The gun doesn t do the shooting the people do University President Richard McCullough explained he was heartbroken by the violence Our hearts go out to our students and the casualties of this terrible tragedy he stated Another shooting a decade ago at Florida State Florida State is one of Florida s society universities with its main campus in Tallahassee About students are enrolled in the university per the school s fact sheet In the main library was the site of a shooting that wounded three people Officers shot and killed the gunman -year-old Myron May The university canceled classes for the rest of the week and canceled home athletic events through Sunday Fischer stated from Fort Lauderdale Associated Press reporters Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach Curt Anderson in St Petersburg Michael Schneider in Orlando Mike Balsamo in New York Eric Tucker and Christopher Megerian in Washington John Seewer in Toledo Ohio and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this assessment Source
