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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – All classes at Florida State University are canceled Friday, following Thursday’s deadly mass shooting. Students are encouraged to go home and be with their families.
Investigators said two people are dead and six others are injured. According to detectives, the accused 20-year-old shooter was injured by police in a shootout.
FSU student Shayna Nickvarz recalled the fear and chaos that unfolded near the student union just before noon, Thursday. “I heard yelling, and we saw, like, a girl being legit carried out by the cops and placed onto a stretcher in the ambulance,” she describes, “my heart dropped because it was just like, this is real.”
Investigators said the two people killed are not students, and some of the 6 injured are students. “This is obviously a heinous crime. Our deepest condolences go out to the families of the students who are here,” Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said.
According to McNeil, Phoenix Ikner is the accused shooter. He said the 20-year-old is the son of an 18-year veteran with his office.
“She has a tremendous job that she has done, her service to this community has been exceptional. Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons,” McNeil said.
Additionally, the sheriff reports the suspect is known to many in the law enforcement community. He explains, “The alleged shooter was also a long-standing member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office Youth Advisory Council, so he has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family.”
Students want to understand why this happened on the campus so many call home.
“There had to have been, you know, like red flags or signs somehow, some way, shape or form, and it just is really like sad. You know, nobody really knows of saw them and I don’t know, it’s just it’s not real. It does not feel real” Nickvarz said.