TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A grand jury has indicted a Florida State University student on murder charges for the killings of two people and the wounding of six others in a mass shooting on campus last month.
The indictment released Wednesday divulged new details of how 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner allegedly carried out the attack that terrorized the university and Florida’s capital city.
Jurors described the rampage as “our community’s worst nightmare” but concluded the rapid response of law enforcement cut short the violence, according to a grand jury report obtained by The Associated Press. The grand jury also found that the officer who shot and wounded Ikner acted lawfully and heroically.
Wednesday’s indictment came a day after Ikner made his first appearance in court since the April 17 shooting.
Jessica Yeary, the public defender assigned to Ikner’s case, did not respond to a request for comment from AP.
Ikner, who investigators have identified as the stepson of a local sheriff’s deputy, is being held without bond under orders that he have no contact with the victims and their families. He has been transferred to a jail in neighboring Wakulla County, which is standard procedure when an inmate is related to a Leon County deputy, authorities said.
After reviewing police body camera footage, campus surveillance feeds and video recordings by witnesses, the grand jury concluded that Ikner acted alone, that the attack was slowed by a shotgun that failed to properly operate, and that the violence was halted by a multiagency law enforcement response.
In roughly four minutes, officers had confronted Ikner, a political science student at Florida State, shooting and wounding him, according to Tallahassee police.
The grand jury highlighted the actions of FSU Police Officer Cody Poppell, who drove his motorcycle toward the sound of gunshots as students fled around him. Poppell shot at the gunman several times, still astride his running motorcycle, hitting Ikner once in the face, the grand jury found.
“There is no question others would have died absent his actions,” the grand jury wrote of Poppell.
Speaking at a meeting Thursday of the board that oversees the state’s university system, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues applauded the response of law enforcement.
“Obviously tragic to have students shot and to have any loss of life. But the quick response of the FSU campus police prevented this from being much, much, much worse than it could have been,” Rodrigues said.
According to the grand jury’s findings, Ikner was armed with a shotgun and a handgun, which was emblazoned with a sheriff’s star and “Leon County Sheriff’s Office.” Investigators have identified that firearm as the former service weapon of Ikner’s stepmother. Ikner “stole” both guns from his parents’ home, jurors concluded, taking the pistol from his father’s bedside.
The grand jury described Ikner’s selection of the victims as “totally random,” targeting men and women of “various ages, races, and lifestyles.”
“All evidence suggests he merely wanted to kill as many people as possible, not that he was targeting any person or group,” the grand jury wrote. “The only consistent trait of each victim was their innocence.”
To date, the jurors found that Leon County Schools had no history of mental health or behavioral referrals indicating Ikner as a threat. Likewise, Tallahassee State College, which Ikner previously attended, had no disciplinary referrals or reports on file of Ikner making threats against other students. FSU also has no record of Ikner seeking mental health counseling, being reported for violent comments or facing disciplinary referrals, jurors found.
Court records show Ikner’s arraignment is scheduled for June 11.
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.