(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — The Florida State University community is reeling and police are searching for a motive after a gunman opened fire on the Tallahassee campus on Thursday, killing two and injuring six.
When the suspect, 20-year-old FSU student Phoenix Ikner, was confronted by responders, he didn’t comply with commands and was shot by officers, authorities said. He’s expected to survive, Tallahassee police said.
Police have not identified the two people killed but said they were not students.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said two of the six injured victims are expected to be discharged on Friday. Three patients have improved and are in good condition, while one victim remains in fair condition, the hospital said Friday.
McKenzie Heeter, a 20-year-old junior, told ABC News she was just feet away from the gunman when he shot a woman wearing scrubs by the student union.
The shooter was “waving around a bigger rifle … and then he pulled out the handgun and shot that woman,” Heeter said.
“Her back was to him, she was just walking. I don’t even think she registered what happened,” she said. “That’s what I just keep thinking about.”
Heeter described sprinting across campus in sheer panic.
“I did a four-minute mile in sandals. I’ve never run that fast in my life,” she said. “I felt like I have got to leave, or else it could be me next.”
Officials revealed that the suspect’s stepmother, Jessica Ikner, is a current deputy with the local Leon County Sheriff’s Office. While authorities identified Jessica Ikner as the suspect’s mother, court documents indicate she is his stepmother.
Phoenix Ikner had access to one of his stepmother’s personal weapons, which was one of the weapons found at the scene, Sheriff Walter McNeil said.
The suspect was also a “long-standing member” of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office’s Youth Advisory Council, McNeil said.
He was “engaged in a number of training programs that we have,” the sheriff said, adding, “Not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
In a statement to the Florida State University community, President Richard McCullough called the shooting a “tragic and senseless act of violence.”
FSU has canceled classes and sporting events through the weekend. A vigil is set for Friday at 5 p.m.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he has an “obligation to protect” the Second Amendment when asked by a reporter in the Oval Office if he sees anything “broken” with America’s current gun laws.
“Look, I’m a big advocate of the Second Amendment. I have been from the beginning. I protected it, and these things are terrible, but the gun doesn’t do the shooting. The people do. It’s a phrase that’s used probably too often,” Trump said.
“I will tell you that it’s a shame,” he said of the shooting.
ABC News’ Faith Abubey and Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
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