MIAMI: Two men were killed in a mass shooting at a university in Florida, allegedly carried out by the son of a local deputy sheriff with her old service weapon, police in the southeastern United States state said on Thursday (Apr 17).
Five people were wounded when the gunman, identified as Phoenix Ikner, rampaged through Florida State University (FSU), shooting at students, before he was shot by local law enforcement.
A sixth person was hurt trying to run away from the shooting, Chief Lawrence Revell of the Tallahassee Police Department said in a statement.
The campus was locked down as gunfire erupted, with students ordered to shelter in place as first responders swarmed the site moments after the lunchtime shootings.
Ikner, 20, has been hospitalised with “serious but non-life-threatening injuries”, Revell added.
Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil told reporters Ikner was a student at the university and the son of an “exceptional” 18-year member of his staff.
“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons, and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene.
He added that the suspect was part of the Sheriff’s Office training programmes, meaning “it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons”.
Bystander footage aired by CNN appeared to show a young man walking on a lawn and shooting at people who were trying to get away.
Witnesses spoke of chaos as people began running through the sprawling campus as shots rang out near the student union.
“Everyone just started running out of the student union,” a witness named Wayne told local news station WCTV.
“About a minute later, we heard about eight to 10 gunshots.”
The witness said he saw one man who appeared to have been shot in the midsection.
“The whole entire thing was just surreal. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“Everything was really quiet, then all chaotic.”
