Phoenix Ikner, the 20-year-old suspect in the Florida State University shooting that killed two people and injured several others, used a handgun that once belonged to his stepmother, a former sheriff’s deputy, authorities said Friday. The gun, now privately owned, was one of her former service weapons. Police also said Ikner had a shotgun, but it’s not confirmed whether that weapon was fired. A motive remains unclear, and officials say there’s no known connection between Ikner and the victims.

Ikner was apprehended after being shot by police during the incident near the campus student union shortly before noon on Thursday. He was seriously injured and is receiving treatment at a local hospital. Once discharged, he’ll be transferred to a detention facility and charged, including with first-degree murder. FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower said Ikner opened fire around 11:50 a.m., and officers on the scene engaged and subdued him quickly.

Witnesses reported Ikner arrived in an orange Hummer, got out with a rifle, and began shooting. One student, McKenzie Heeter, said he appeared to miss with his initial shots before returning to his vehicle to retrieve a pistol and then fatally shooting a woman. “I just started running,” Heeter said. “He looked like a normal college dude.”

Ikner is believed to be a student at FSU and was previously a member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office youth advisory council. Sheriff Walt McNeil said it wasn’t surprising that Ikner had access to firearms, given his connection to law enforcement circles. The advisory council, according to the sheriff’s office, was designed to build communication between local youth and law enforcement.

Public records show Ikner changed his name in 2020 from Christian Gunner Eriksen and registered as a Republican in 2022. Former classmates and members of a political discussion group he attended at Tallahassee State College—where he studied before transferring to FSU—say he was known for making white supremacist and far-right comments. Reid Seybold, the group’s former president, said Ikner was eventually banned from attending because of his rhetoric. “He espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric and far-right rhetoric,” Seybold said. Riley Pusins, the club’s current president, echoed the same, adding that Ikner often defended Trump’s agenda and regularly crossed the line into openly fascist and racist remarks.

Political science student Lucas Luzietti, who had a class with Ikner in 2023, recalled him frequently expressing hostility toward minorities, dismissing the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and even saying that Rosa Parks was “in the wrong.” Luzietti said Ikner once claimed multiculturalism was dangerous and blamed Black people for problems in his neighborhood. He also spoke about owning guns and joked about mass violence, often with a casual tone that made classmates uncomfortable. “Everyone would just look at each other like, ‘Did he really just say that?’” Luzietti said.

Ikner was quoted earlier this year in FSU’s student newspaper during coverage of an anti-Trump protest, calling the demonstrators “entertaining” and suggesting nothing could stop Trump’s return to office “unless you outright revolt.” After the shooting, the student paper removed Ikner’s quote, stating that the decision was made to avoid amplifying the voice of someone responsible for violence.

Beyond his political extremism, Ikner’s past includes a history of mental and physical health struggles. According to court documents from 2015, he was diagnosed with developmental delays, ADHD, and a growth hormone disorder. His childhood was marked by instability, including a lengthy custody dispute between his biological parents. His mother, Anne-Mari Eriksen, a dual U.S.–Norwegian citizen, was once charged for taking Ikner to Norway in violation of a court order. She had originally agreed to take her son to South Florida for spring break but instead left the country. After the father filed an emergency motion, the court ordered her to return with Ikner, and she later pleaded no contest to the charge. She served 170 days in jail and was sentenced to additional community control and probation, with orders not to contact her son or his school during that period.

As police continue investigating the incident, the university community is left shaken, and questions remain about how someone with a history of instability and extremist behavior had such easy access to weapons—and how the warning signs, evident to so many, were missed.