Who is Phoenix Ikner? FSU shooting suspect was stepson of deputy, espoused radical ideas

On Thursday, April 17, Tallahassee police say Phoenix Ikner opened fire near the student union of Florida State University's Tallahassee campus, killing two people and injuring six more before officers arrived.

The alleged shooter was shot in a confrontation with first responders and taken to a local hospital. The surviving student victims were listed in fair condition.

Details are still trickling out, but what has been revealed is stunning. Ikner, 20, is the stepson of a veteran Leon County Sheriff's deputy, and he used her gun in the shootings.

Here's what we know so far.

Who is Phoenix Ikner?

Phoenix Ikner, born Christian Gunnar Eriksen , is a political science student at FSU and the son of a Tallahassee man and a Miami woman who had dual Norwegian citizenship.

The couple split three years after his birth and Ikner stayed with his father, although his mother took him to Norway in 2015 against court orders. She was arrested on a charge of removing a minor from the state during a custody proceeding, according to Leon Circuit Court records, pleaded no contest, given more than two months in jail and ordered to stay away from her son and pay $31,000 in restitution.

Ikner later called that a "tragic event" in his life, and requested to legally change his name to get a fresh start when he was a 15-year-old student at Lincoln High School. His mother fought the change, leading to one of many court clashes between his parents.

Is Phoenix Ikner the son of a Florida sheriff's deputy?

Ikner is the stepson of Leon County deputy Jessica Ikner, a resource deputy at Raa Middle School and a veteran of more than 18 years. Earlier reports described her as Ikner's mother.

"Her service to this community has been exceptional," Leon County Sheriff Walter A. McNeil said in a press conference hours after the shooting.

Ikner himself spent a lot of time around the sheriff's office.

When he was still at Lincoln High SchooI, Ikner was one of eight students to join the LCSO's  youth advisory council , where he was a longstanding member, McNeil said.

"He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff's Office family, engaged in a number of training programs, so it's not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons," McNeil said. "This event is tragic in more ways than you people in the audience could ever [fathom] from a law enforcement perspective."

Phoenix Ikner FSU shooting timeline

Tallahassee police provided a timeline of the April 17 shooting at Florida State University .

• 11 a.m.: Phoenix Ikner arrives at an FSU parking garage.

• 11: 51 a.m.: Phoenix Ikner leaves the parking lot.

• 11:56 or 11:57 a.m.: Phoenix Ikner fires the first shot, then walks in and out of buildings and green spaces, firing a handgun.

• 11:58 a.m.: 911 calls report a male actively shooting on FSU campus. Nearby police officers respond.

• By 12 p.m.: Phoenix Ikner is shot by responding officers and taken into custody.

Did Phoenix Ikner use his stepmother's gun?

"This weapon was a weapon that the deputy previously used," Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said at the press conference, pointing out that many agencies, his included, allowed officers to purchase their previous handguns if new ones are issued. "Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe that's the case here.

"This was a handgun that that deputy used prior to them transitioning to a new handgun, and so it was her personal handgun," he said.

LCSO will be internally investigating the incident , but at this time, the sheriff said there's no cause for deputy Jessica Ikner to be suspended.

McNeil said they were continuing the investigation into how that weapon was used and what other weapons Ikner may have had access to."

A shotgun was recovered at the scene but it is unclear if he used both weapons.

Phoenix Ikner's stepmother practiced shooting with him at firing range

Jessica Ikner, a middle school deputy, practiced shooting with her son, Phoenix Ikner , though "not in an official capacity," according to the Leon County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Walt McNeil said  Phoenix was "steeped in the Leon County Sheriff's Office  family."

He served on the agency's Youth Advisory Council and "being the son of law enforcement, meant he was constantly exposed to firearm safety," LCSO spokesperson Shonda Knight said.

Jessica Ikner is currently on personal leave and is being reassigned,  "sensitivity of the matter and to make sure she is properly acclimated under the circumstances," Knight said.

What was the motive behind Phoenix Ikner's shooting?

Unclear.

"The suspect invoked his rights not to speak to us," Revell said at the press conference.

Ikner was known by other classmates for espousing extremist conspiracy theories and hateful ideas and was once kicked out of a "political round table" club for what one student claimed was frequent white supremacist and far-right rhetoric.

These included theories that President  Joe Biden  illegally came into office, "Rosa Parks was in the wrong," and Black people were ruining his neighborhood, according to fellow politics student Lucas Luzietti, who shared classes with him at Tallahassee Community College before they moved to FSU

"I remember thinking this man should not have access to firearms," Luzietti told USA TODAY. But, "what are you supposed to do? His mother was a cop and Florida doesn't have very strong red flag laws."

Ikner made it clear to the class that he had guns, Luzietti said.

Ikner was quoted in the student paper in an article about a Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) march over President Donald Trump's inauguration.

"These people are usually pretty entertaining, usually not for good reasons," Ikner said then. "I think it's a little too late, he's [Trump] already going to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and there's not really much you can do unless you outright revolt, and I don't think anyone wants that."

An Instagram account apparently belonging to Ikner, now taken down, was set to private. At the time of the shooting, his bio read, "Jeremiah 51:20 -'You are my war club, my weapon for battle; with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms.'"

(This story was updated with new information)

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Who is Phoenix Ikner? FSU shooting suspect had extremist political views