Two people were killed and five others were hospitalized Thursday after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire at Florida State University just before noon, cops said.
Police said the lone gunman, Phoenix Eichner, was a student as FSU and the son of a deputy at the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.
He allegedly used one of his mother’s former service weapons in the deadly attack, police said during a press conference. His mom, Deputy Jessica Ikner, was allowed to purchase the gun for personal use after she moved on to a new service weapon.
ADVERTISEMENT
A motive for the attack was not given.
Police added that Eichner was a member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office Youth Advisory Council.
Those killed have not been identified, but Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence E. Revell said they are not students and not law enforcement.
A spokesperson for Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, the region’s only trauma center, told the Daily Beast it was treating six patients, all of which are in “fair condition.” One of those patients is the suspect.
The university’s emergency alert system said at 3:18 p.m. that “law enforcement has neutralized the threat,” but did not elaborate further. That message came about three hours after the first reports of shots fired emerged.
Revell said officers shot Eichner after he refused commands, but added Eichner did not open fire at law enforcement himself. The suspect was allegedly armed with a handgun and shotgun.
There were conflicting reports about how many people were killed and how many were behind the attack throughout the afternoon, but police cleared up speculation in a late afternoon press conference.
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he was briefed on the shooting, which he called a “horrible thing.”
Chilling videos circulating on social media showed students running for their lives through traffic. After law enforcement responded to the scene, students were escorted outside with their hands raised above their heads.
E.W. Scripps reporter Forrest Saunders reported students left behind food, laptops, and shoes on an FSU lawn to run away from the sound of gunfire. He also witnessed “multiple injured being loaded into ambulances outside the Student Union.”
University officials said the active shooter was reported in the university’s student union on its campus in Tallahassee, Florida. A witness told the Tallahassee Democrat they heard “semi-automatic gunfire” near the building. The FBI has responded to the scene and is investigating along with local law enforcement.
Among those on FSU’s campus Thursday were students who survived the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that killed 17 and injured 18 others in 2018.
“After living through the MSD shooting in 2018, I never thought it would hit close to home again,” posted Josh Gallager on X. “Then I’m in the FSU Law Library and hear on alarm: active shooter on campus. No matter your politics, we need to meet—and something has to change. Prayers to the victims and families.”
Fred Guttenburg, father of the slain 14-year-old Jaime Guttenburg in the Parkland shooting, said some of his late daughter’s high school friends are students at FSU.
“America is broken,” he wrote. “My daughter Jaime was murdered in the Parkland school shooting. Many of her friends who were lucky enough to survive that shooting went on to attend FSU. Incredibly, some of them were just a part of their 2nd school shooting and some were in the student union today. As a father, all I ever wanted after the Parkland shooting was to help our children be safe. Sadly, because of the many people who refuse to do the right things about reducing gun violence, I am not surprised by what happened today.”
Classes have been canceled at FSU through at least Friday. Home sporting events, like a three-game baseball series scheduled against the University of Virginia, have also been canceled through the weekend.
