Man kills two with police mother’s gun at Florida State University

Police identify gunman as 20-year-old son of local sheriff’s deputy in attack that also wounded five.

The 20-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy opened fire at Florida State University with his mother’s former service weapon, killing two people and wounding at least six others, investigators said.

The attack on Friday occurred at approximately 11:50am Eastern Time (15:50 GMT) outside of the Tallahassee school’s student union.

The university swiftly issued an active shooter alert, with Florida State’s alert system announcing that law enforcement had “neutralised the threat” soon after.

Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower said that the two people killed, who were not immediately identified, were not students at the school.

Five other people were being treated at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where the attacker was also being treated after being taken into custody, he said.

Evacuees watch law enforcement at Florida State University following a shooting [Alicia Devine/USA TODAY via Reuters]

Speaking from the Oval Office, United States President Donald Trump said that he had been “fully briefed.”

“It’s a horrible thing. It’s horrible that things like this take place,” Trump said.

He quickly pivoted to voicing support for gun ownership, saying, “These things are terrible, but the gun doesn’t do the shooting. The people do.”

Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil later identified the suspect as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, the son of a sheriff’s deputy within his own department.

He said Ikner used his mother’s former service weapon in the attack, adding the attacker had been a longstanding member of the sheriff’s office’s youth advisory council and engaged in a number of training programmes with the office.

“We will make sure that we do everything we can to prosecute and make sure that we send a message to folks that this will never be tolerated here in Leon County, and I dare say across the state and across this nation,” McNeil said.

Law enforcement officers at Florida State University after a shooting [Alicia Devine/USA TODAY via Reuters]

Police said Ikner is believed to be a student at the university, but a motive for the attack was not immediately known. Ikner invoked his right to silence upon being arrested, authorities said.

School shootings are relatively common within the US, and Thursday’s shooting was not the first attack at the university.

In 2014, three people were shot just outside and inside the entrance of Strozier Library in the middle of the university campus.

Officers who arrived within two minutes of the first call shot and killed the gunman, a 31-year-old man.