After the deadly shooting at Florida State University on Thursday, a portrait of the alleged armed man – the stepchild of a local Sheriff representative – has appeared.
At least two people were killed and six were injured when the shot was heard near the Tallahassee Institute Student Union, officials said during a press conference.
Leon County Sheriff has identified the shooter as a 20 -year -old Pheonix Ikner, displayed in this photo posted on social media.
The first respondent shot suspects on campus and since then he was hospitalized, said officials. He was detained with an injury that was not life -threatening, many law enforcement officers told ABC News.
The suspect was identified during a press conference as a 20 -year -old Phoenix Ikner. At the press conference, the authorities described IKNER as the son of Sheriff Leon County Jessica Ikner’s son. However, court documents show that she is the stepmother of the suspect.
Law enforcement work at the Florida State University campus after mass shooting at Tallahassee, Florida, April 17, 2025.
Alicia Devine/USA Today network through Imagn’s image via Reuters
Sheriff Walter McNeil said Phoenix had access to one of his stepmother’s personal weapons, which was one of the weapons found at the scene. He had a gun and rifle with him at the time of the shooting, said officials.
Jessica Ikner has been a department of department for more than 18 years and “her service to this community is extraordinary,” McNeil said.
Florida State University Campus Shooting
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McNeil added that the 20 -year -old suspect was also a “old member” of the Sheriff Leon County Youth Advisory Board.
Pheonix has “explored the Sheriff Leon County family family,” McNeil said, added, “It was not surprising for us that he had access to weapons,” he added.
The suspect was once the center of disputes between international children’s custody
Ikner was previously in the middle of a protracted battle between his parents who featured a dispute that stretched from Florida Panhandle to Norway, according to court documents.
During a prisoner’s dispute, the suspect was a child and was known as Christian Gunnar Eriksen. (He changed his name in 2020 and is now identified as Phoenix Ikner.)
Christian was brought by his biological mother to Norway in March 2015 which violated the child custody order, according to the possibility of additional causes of written statements from the Sheriff Office of Leon Regency. Anne-Mari Eriksen was accused of telling Christian’s father, Christopher Ikner, that he took him to South Florida for spring holidays.
“Instead of living in South Florida, the defendant allegedly left the country that violated their detention agreement,” said the written statement. “Mr. Ikner suggested that Christian had a delay in development and had special needs he fearing would not be taken care of without access to his doctor in the United States.”
Sheriff’s written statement said the child was under treatment for “some health and mental problems, to include growth hormone disorders and ADHD.”
The document states that Christianity and her biological mother are double citizens in the United States and Norway.
Christian was finally brought back to the United States. His mother was arrested at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in July 2015 and then did not ask for a contest to move a child illegally from Florida.
In October 2015, Anne-Mari Eriksen filed a lawsuit that accused slander and defamation in the name of himself and his son of father and stepmother Christian, Deputy Sheriff Jessica Ikner, along with two other relatives.
“Emotional and psychological damage carried out in small children will be proven for years, and will need counseling, and remember the child is 11 years old, will have memories that are influenced by the behavior of all defendants for fake claims made to their mothers, and for the alienation of parents from close relationships,” the claim claims.
The lawsuit was searching for more than $ 80,000 in compensation to be used against Christian college funds.
A judge rejected the lawsuit seven months later.
Investigation of the deadly shooting motive is ongoing.
The police said during the press conference that law enforcement responses to the shooting were “great” and “very fast.”
“We are working several places of crime, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, witnesses,” said Head of Lawrence Revell from Tallahasee Police.
Revell also said the suspect did not comply with orders before being shot by responding to officers. “I can’t believe he fired at officers,” Revell said.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky, Katherine Faulders and Jenny Wagnon Courts contributed to this report.