A deputy sheriff’s son killed two people and wounded four others at Florida State University on Thursday before he was shot by officers and hospitalized, authorities said.
Police believe the gunman — the son of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy — acted alone and a motive was not known. The suspect had access to his mother’s handgun, which was once her service weapon. She bought it from the department and it is now a personal firearm, they said.
“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons that was found at the scene,” Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil said at the press conference.
The 20-year-old suspect — identified as Phoenix Ikner — was believed to be a student at FSU in the state capital of Tallahassee, said Jason Trumbower, chief of the university’s police force. The two people who were killed were not students. Trumbower did not provide details on the four others who were shot and wounded.
Responding police officers shot the gunman when he failed to obey orders to surrender and took him into custody, authorities said. The four wounded victims, plus the gunman, were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds.
Mass shootings on U.S. school campuses have become recurring tragedies in recent years. Thursday’s incident was the second shooting on the FSU campus in 11 years. In 2014, a graduate opened fire early at the school’s main library, wounding two students and an employee as hundreds were studying for exams.
The shooting started about 11:50 a.m. local time near the student union building on the FSU campus. Students and faculty were told to shelter in place as police responded. More than 42,000 students attend classes at the main campus.
In addition to the handgun, authorities believe the suspect brought a shotgun onto campus but said it was uncertain if that weapon was used in the shooting.