TPD: FSU gunman shot once in the jaw, under armed guard at hospital

Phoenix Ikner, the Tallahassee 20-year-old charged in the April 17 mass shooting at Florida State University, was shot once in the jaw.

Those are among the new details provided to news media on April 23 by the Tallahassee Police Department.

“The suspect remains hospitalized with significant injuries but is expected to survive,” TPD spokeswoman Alicia Hill said in a text message. “He was shot once, in the jaw.”

He remains under armed guard at the hospital.

Hill added that Ikner’s release from the hospital “will depend on his progress and will be determined by the medical professionals overseeing his care. Once he is released and formally charged, we will provide an update.”

THM has said they only have one shooting patient in the hospital who is in "good" condition.

TPD, echoing previous comments by law enforcement, said Ikner will face charges “up to and including first-degree murder,” but that the State Attorney’s Office will make the final determination. Hill added that the investigation remains “open and active.”

Ikner, a 20-year-old FSU student known to have espoused neo-Nazi views, began shooting just before noon April 17 around the Student Union, killing two people and injured six.

Florida State University police officers confronted him within roughly two minutes, with one of them firing the shot that took Ikner down.

Robert Morales, a dining services employee at FSU, and Tiru Chabba, a university vendor from out of state, were shot and killed in the rampage.

Police said Ikner used a former service weapon belonging to his stepmother, Jessica Ikner, a Leon County Sheriff’s Office resource deputy at Raa Middle School.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.