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Florida State University Shooting: Suspect’s Troubled Past Revealed
In the wake of the deadly shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee, attention has turned to the alleged gunman, Phoenix Ikner, and his background. Years prior to being identified as a suspect in this week’s campus violence, Ikner sought a fresh start, attempting to distance himself from a complex family history. Traumatized by a contentious custody dispute between his parents that led to charges against his mother during his youth, Ikner, then a teenager, petitioned a Leon County, Florida court for a legal name change.
Name Change and Early Life
Ikner, at the time a high school honors student, appeared for his 2020 court hearing via video conference while dressed in his naval junior ROTC uniform. He presented himself well to the court.
“This court deemed him to be a mentally, emotionally, and physically mature young adult, who is articulate, quite intelligent, well-spoken, and polite,” wrote administrative magistrate James Banks in his decision approving the legal alteration from Ikner’s birth name, Christian Gunnar Eriksen.
Ikner opted to take his father’s surname and chose a first name imbued with symbolism.
“He selected the name Phoenix because of its symbolic representation of rising anew from ashes,” Banks noted.
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From Fresh Start to Tragedy
The transformation of Ikner from a teenager desiring a fresh start to a 20-year-old accused of fatally shooting two individuals and wounding at least five others in Thursday’s Tallahassee incident remains unclear. Interviews with former classmates and reviews of legal documents paint a picture of a young man grappling with a fractured family life and discord with peers over his extreme political viewpoints.
However, a definitive motive for the fatal violence is still under investigation.
Ikner, a new transfer student to Florida State University from Tallahassee State College, had enrolled this semester as a political science major. He remains hospitalized with serious, but not life-threatening injuries after being shot by law enforcement, according to police reports.
Classmates Describe Troubling Behavior
As the inquiry expanded Friday into the circumstances surrounding the gunfire, students acquainted with the accused gunman described him as a troubled young man who openly spoke about possessing a weapon.
“He would joke about mass violence,” stated Lucas Luzietti, who shared a national government class with Ikner at Tallahassee State College. “And he mentioned how he used firearms and had access to them.”
Luzietti recounted an argument with Ikner regarding the 2020 election, noting that classmates would exchange glances at Ikner’s comments. These remarks included denying the validity of the presidential election results and expressing hateful opinions about minority groups, he added.
“He voiced the election denialism belief that Joe Biden was not the legitimate president, asserted that Rosa Parks was in the wrong, and commented on how Black people were negatively impacting his neighborhood and Stonewall was detrimental to society,” Luzietti said. “He also expressed concerns about the dangers of multiculturalism.”
Reid Seybold, an FSU senior who first encountered Ikner at Tallahassee State, recalled Ikner being asked to leave a political discussion club at his prior college due to “white supremacist and far-right rhetoric.”
Riley Pusins, the current club president, stated that Ikner frequently promoted white supremacist ideologies, despite the group’s nonpartisan nature and focus on debate and political discussion. Pusins added that Ikner’s remarks became even more extreme after meetings concluded.
Victims Identified
NBC News confirmed the identities of the deceased victims from Thursday’s shooting as Robert Morales, 57, and Tiru Chabba, 45. FSU graduate student Madison Askins was among those injured; the identities of the remaining wounded victims are pending release.
Weapon Origin and Family Background
Authorities stated on Thursday that they believe Ikner used a handgun belonging to his stepmother, Jessica Ikner, a Leon County sheriff’s deputy and school resource officer at a Tallahassee middle school.
Jessica Ikner and other family members could not be reached for comment. However, court documents detail challenges in Ikner’s upbringing, including health issues and a protracted custody battle that extended internationally.
Custody Battle and Mother’s Actions
In 2015, Ikner’s biological mother, Anne-Mari Eriksen, took him out of the country, violating her agreement with Ikner’s father, Christopher, according to a probable cause affidavit from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office reviewed by NBC News. Eriksen, who shared custody of her son, then 10 or 11 years old and known by his birth name, was required to provide advance notification when taking Ikner outside the U.S. For spring break that year, the affidavit states, Eriksen informed Christopher Ikner their travel destination was South Florida. Instead, she allegedly transported their son to Norway, where both held dual citizenship.
Several weeks after spring break concluded, Eriksen had not returned the boy to the United States and “had no intention of returning” him to Tallahassee, despite his father’s appeals, the affidavit continued.
Upon Eriksen’s failure to return Ikner, Christopher Ikner contacted authorities to report his son as kidnapped and to report the denial of medical care for developmental delays and special needs, including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a growth hormone disorder, as documented in the affidavit.
“By keeping Christian in Norway, the defendant failed to have Christian in school for scheduled testing, canceled appointments with Christian’s doctors in the U.S., and failed to maintain his medication protocols by her own admission,” it stated.
Legal Disputes and Mother’s Charges
Later that year, Eriksen initiated legal action against Christopher and Jessica Ikner, along with two other Ikner relatives, alleging slander and causing “psychological harm” to her son through “continuous and vicious litigation in family court.” The Ikners could not be reached for comment regarding the lawsuit.
“Christian Gunnar Eriksen is the victim of psychological and emotional abuse, as well as parental alienation. Christopher Ikner relishes taking credit for actions undertaken by Anne-Mari Eriksen privately, professionally, and as a parent,” the legal complaint asserted.
Eriksen, who remains unavailable for comment, was ultimately charged with removing a minor from the state and failing to return a minor, according to records. She pleaded no contest and served a brief period of incarceration.
Name Change and Lingering Trauma
When Phoenix Ikner petitioned for a legal name change from Christian Gunnar Eriksen in 2019, which the court granted the following year, his mother opposed the change, while his father supported it, court documents reveal.
Judge Banks, who approved the name change, wrote: “He sees no reason to retain his former name as it serves as a constant reminder of the 2015 tragedy he endured and of his mother, whom he has neither seen nor spoken to since 2015.”
The Shooting Incident
Authorities report that around 11 a.m. Thursday, Ikner arrived at the FSU parking garage, remaining there for approximately an hour before proceeding towards the student union. He then allegedly roamed buildings and grounds, discharging his handgun indiscriminately at individuals, police added.
Panicked students fled for safety and contacted emergency services. Responding officers shot Ikner after he disregarded their commands, police stated, with the violent episode lasting less than five minutes.
Following Thursday’s shooting incident, Ikner has invoked his right to silence, according to police.
Search for Answers
Seybold, who was under lockdown in a classroom and could hear nearby gunfire, is eager for explanations.
“I don’t know why he would have done something like this,” Seybold said. “I don’t know the origin of this, but I am very interested in finding out.”