Students from Florida State University are waiting for news in an active shooter incident on the school campus in Tallahassee, Florida on Thursday.
Kate Payne / AP
hide
tilting legend
Kate Payne / AP
At least two people were killed and six others hospitalized after a shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee, according to the law forces.
In an alert issued around noon to those of the campus, the FSU warned people to “shelter themselves in place” and said that the police responded to “an active shooter call to the student union”.
Shortly after 3 pm, the university said: “The police neutralized the threat.” The authorities have also raised the locking of most of the campus, with the exception of nine buildings which are still an “active crime”.
The authorities have identified the alleged shooter as Phoenix Ikner, son of a current and long -standing assistant from Leon County. The Sheriff Walter McNeil says that the 20 -year -old suspect had access to one of the deputy’s personal handguns, and was found on the scene with a hunting rifle. The sheriff says that the suspect, an FSU student who is in detention, was well known to the department and had participated in several training programs, in particular as a member of the “Youth Advisory Council” of the Department.
“This incident is tragic … from the point of view of the police,” said Sheriff McNeill at a press conference. “But I will tell you this: we will make sure to do everything we can to continue.”
Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare said in an email at NPR that he had received six patients. “(O) do not in critical condition and the rest in serious condition.”
In an article on X, Governor Ron Desantis said: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and the state forces actively respond.” The FBI says he is on the scene and helps local authorities to the investigation.
Students, staff and others are escorted outside the buildings after shots were fired on the Florida State University campus on Thursday. Two people died and six others were hospitalized. The alleged shooter, the son of a local sheriff deputy, was injured.
Alicia Devine / Tallahassee Democrat / USA Today Network via Reuters
hide
tilting legend
Alicia Devine / Tallahassee Democrat / USA Today Network via Reuters
Speaking at the White House, President Trump said he was fully informed. “It’s a horrible thing. It’s horrible that things like this happen.”
Reid Seybold, a senior in political science from Florida’s state, told WFSU that he was in class when the shooting had taken place. He said someone barricaded the door until the police come to escort everyone. “I am honestly terrified. I am generally quite good in crazy situations. I feel so much like … I don’t have an agency, which is the most frightening thing for me.” Seybold said he was worried about his friends in other campuses, but he had heard of it and that they are all safe.
FSU told students to avoid his Tallahassee campus, and he canceled all the “classes and commercial operations” until Friday. The university later declared that it cancels all athletic “home events” until Sunday.
“It is a deeply emotional period. But we are all here to support each other,” said the president of the FSU, Richard McCullough. “We are going to do everything we can to support our community. We are a strong and united community. We are a family and we will therefore take care of all of you. And we will pass through this together.”
In a statement after the shots, the Democrats of the FSU College described it as preventable insane violence. “We firmly solve that no student should have to feel a fear like that on their campus. It is not normal; it is not acceptable.”
In 2014, a shooter fired in a crowded library on the campus, injuring three people before being killed by the police.
Founded in 1851, the Florida State University is one of the oldest universities in the state. He has an enrollment of more than 44,000 students and around 16,000 teachers, staff members and employees work at FSU.
Greg Allen from NPR to Miami and Regan McCarthy from WFSU to Tallahassee contributed the reports.
