1 / 3
An impromptu memorial shared online brings students bearing flowers adjacent the halfway of the Florida State field successful show of the Student Union building, Tallahassee, Fla., Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A expansive assemblage has indicted a Florida State University pupil on execution charges for the killings of two people and the wounding of six others successful a wide shooting connected campus past month.
The indictment released Wednesday divulged caller details of however 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner allegedly carried retired the onslaught that terrorized the university and Florida's superior city.
Jurors described the rampage arsenic “our community’s worst nightmare" but concluded the accelerated effect of instrumentality enforcement chopped abbreviated the violence, according to a expansive assemblage study obtained by The Associated Press. The expansive assemblage besides recovered that the serviceman who changeable and wounded Ikner acted lawfully and heroically.
Wednesday's indictment came a time aft Ikner made his first quality successful court since the April 17 shooting.
Jessica Yeary, the nationalist defender assigned to Ikner's case, did not respond to a petition for remark from AP.
Ikner, who investigators person identified arsenic the stepson of a section sheriff's deputy, is being held without enslaved nether orders that helium person nary interaction with the victims and their families. He has been transferred to a jail successful neighboring Wakulla County, which is modular process erstwhile an inmate is related to a Leon County deputy, authorities said.
After reviewing constabulary assemblage camera footage, field surveillance feeds and video recordings by witnesses, the expansive assemblage concluded that Ikner acted alone, that the onslaught was slowed by a shotgun that failed to decently operate, and that the unit was halted by a multiagency instrumentality enforcement response.
In roughly 4 minutes, officers had confronted Ikner, a governmental subject pupil astatine Florida State, shooting and wounding him, according to Tallahassee police.
The expansive assemblage highlighted the actions of FSU Police Officer Cody Poppell, who drove his motorcycle toward the dependable of gunshots arsenic students fled astir him. Poppell changeable astatine the gunman respective times, inactive astride his moving motorcycle, hitting Ikner erstwhile successful the face, the expansive assemblage found.
"There is nary question others would person died absent his actions," the expansive assemblage wrote of Poppell.
Speaking astatine a gathering Thursday of the committee that oversees the state's assemblage system, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues applauded the effect of instrumentality enforcement.
"Obviously tragic to person students changeable and to person immoderate nonaccomplishment of life. But the speedy effect of the FSU field constabulary prevented this from being much, much, overmuch worse than it could person been," Rodrigues said.
According to the expansive jury's findings, Ikner was equipped with a shotgun and a handgun, which was emblazoned with a sheriff's prima and “Leon County Sheriff's Office." Investigators person identified that firearm arsenic the erstwhile work limb of Ikner's stepmother. Ikner “stole” some guns from his parents' home, jurors concluded, taking the pistol from his father’s bedside.
The expansive assemblage described Ikner's enactment of the victims arsenic “totally random," targeting men and women of “various ages, races, and lifestyles.”
“All grounds suggests helium simply wanted to termination arsenic galore radical arsenic possible, not that helium was targeting immoderate idiosyncratic oregon group,” the expansive assemblage wrote. “The lone accordant trait of each unfortunate was their innocence.”
To date, the jurors recovered that Leon County Schools had nary past of intelligence wellness oregon behavioral referrals indicating Ikner arsenic a threat. Likewise, Tallahassee State College, which Ikner antecedently attended, had nary disciplinary referrals oregon reports connected record of Ikner making threats against different students. FSU besides has nary grounds of Ikner seeking intelligence wellness counseling, being reported for convulsive comments oregon facing disciplinary referrals, jurors found.
Court records amusement Ikner's arraignment is scheduled for June 11.
___ Kate Payne is simply a corps subordinate for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is simply a nonprofit nationalist work programme that places journalists successful section newsrooms to study connected undercovered issues.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.