Following a deadly shooting on a university campus in Tallahassee, Florida, the U.S. president appeared somber as he issued a response from the White House.
President Donald Trump delivered a brief statement from the Oval Office on Friday in response to the shooting at Florida State University (FSU), which occurred on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
US President Donald Trump is in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2025 | Source: Getty Images
“It’s a horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place,” Trump said. He added that he had been “fully briefed” on the situation and described the tragedy as “a shame.”
According to the Miami Herald, the shooting left two people dead and six others injured. The suspect, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner — an FSU student and the son of a Leon County Sheriff’s deputy — used a handgun that had once belonged to his mother, which she had legally purchased for personal use.
Ikner was shot by responding officers and taken into custody.
The attack occurred around noon on Thursday near the university’s student union. Police later confirmed that the two people killed were not enrolled at FSU. The six others who were wounded were taken to the hospital. A motive has not yet been identified.
Police gather behind caution tape as the investigation unfolds on FSU’s main campus after a deadly shooting | Source: Getty Images
While investigators continue to piece together what led to the attack, Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil said the department knew the suspect personally. Ikner had been involved in the sheriff’s Youth Advisory Council and had participated in several of the agency’s training programs.
“He has been steep in the Leon County Sheriff’s family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have … so it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons,” McNeil said during a press briefing.
The shooting caused panic on campus, triggering a full lockdown. Among them was sophomore Paula Maldonado, who recounted the chaos to ABC News. She said that once the active threat alarm sounded, her class immediately turned off the lights and used desks to barricade the door.
