Police confirm Florida State University shooter was deputy sheriff’s son after 2 people killed
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images
The Florida State University shooter, who killed two people and wounded four, has been identified as the deputy sheriff's son, according to police.
The suspect - who has since been identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner - was shot and wounded by police officers who were called to the scene on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, US on Thursday (18 April), which reportedly happened around 11:50 a.m. local time (15:50 GMT).
After being shot, Ikner was taken to hospital.
According to the BBC, Ikner began to shoot at people near the student union building, with police also finding a shotgun at the scene.
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The motive behind the attack is not yet understood, and police have said that the two deceased victims were not students.
The outlet further reports that the suspect is the son of a Leon County sheriff's deputy, according to Sheriff Walt McNeil.
Speaking at a press conference, McNeil said he 'had access' to one of his mother's former service weapons which was found at the scene of the crime.
He went on to say that Ikner was a 'longstanding member' of the sheriff office's youth advisory council and had been apart of a few training programmes, adding: "So it is not a surprise that he had access to weapons."
A student on campus at the time, Max Jenkins, described the shooter leaving the student union building and firing multiple shots outside, Reuters reports.
Jenkins said: "He saw the maintenance guy who was waving everybody, and I guess heard him probably and turned and shot that way.
"There's a golf cart over here with a bullet hole in it."
Meanwhile, one man, Chris Pento, was on a tour of the university with his daughter, and the two were eating lunch at the student union building when they heard gunshots.
He said: "It was surreal, people started running," adding that his daughter 'got trampled over'.
President Donald Trump was asked for his thoughts on the shooting and possible amendments to US gun laws, where he told reporters that he was a 'big advocate' of the Second Amendment, which protects gun rights.
He said: I have been since the beginning. I have protected it. These things are terrible. We will have more to say about it later."
Trump went on to call the shooting 'a shame, a horrible thing'.
Yesterday's incident was the second shooting on the FSU campus in 11 years.
In 2014, a graduate from the university openly fired shots in the school's library, leading to two students and one employee being wounded.