TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida State University (FSU) shooting suspect had a history of mental health issues and participated in youth training programs offered by the local sheriff’s department, according to various sources.
The 20-year-old suspect, an FSU student, is the stepson of Jessica Ikner, a Leon County Sheriff’s deputy. Law enforcement officials say he used his stepmother’s former service handgun, which she had kept for personal use after the force upgraded to new weapons, to carry out the attack. Two people were killed and five others were injured in the mass shooting. A sixth surviving victim was injured while fleeing but wasn’t shot. All injured victims are expected to make a full recovery.
According to Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil, the suspect was a longstanding member of the the sheriff’s office’s Youth Advisory Council, a program designed to offer youth a voice in community policing efforts.
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“He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have,” he said during a news conference Thursday. “So it’s no surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
Ikner has been described by the sheriff’s office as a “model employee” with 18 years of service. The sheriff’s office also confirmed Ikner taught her stepson how to handle firearms.
“His family exposed him to safety as it relates to utilizing firearms,” a department spokesperson told The NY Post.
One witness says he saw the suspect get out a vehicle with a rifle and aim it at another man. The gun jammed, the witness said, and the shooter rushed back to the car and emerged with the handgun, opening fire on a woman. Police also recovered an AR-15-style rifle inside the vehicle.
FSU Shooting Suspect Has History of Physical, Mental Health Issues
The suspect was part of a contentious custody battle ten years ago, and court documents associated with the case indicate he had both physical and mental health issues.
In violation of a child custody order, in March 2015, his biological mother, Anne-Mari Eriksen, kidnapped her then-11-year-old son and took him to Norway, ABC News reports. According to an affidavit, the boy was “on medication for several health and mental issues, to include a growth hormone disorder and ADHD.”
“[The suspect’s father] advised that [the boy] has developmental delays and has special needs which he feared would not be taken care of without access to his doctors here in the United States,” the affidavit continued.
The boy was eventually brought back to the U.S. several months later and his mother was arrested at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in July 2015. She pleaded no contest to illegally removing a child from Florida.
In 2020, the suspect received court approval to change his name. Administrative Magistrate James Banks, who approved the request, said his old name was a constant reminder of a “tragedy” he suffered. At the time, Banks described the suspect as a “mentally, emotionally, and physically mature young adult, who is very articulate, quite intelligent, very well spoken, and very polite.”
A law enforcement sources says the suspect suffered from emotional dysregulation for which he had been prescribed medication, according to CNN. Family members told investigators he had stopped taking some of the prescribed medication, the source said.
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said the suspect, who invoked his right not to speak when he was taken into custody, “will face the charges up to and including first-degree murder.”
Classmates: FSU Shooting Suspect Had Extreme Political Views
The suspect recently transferred to FSU from Tallahassee State College. Following the shooting, several former classmates described his political views as “extreme” and that he has shared “concerning rhetoric.”
FSU student Reid Seybold was the president of a political discussion club that the suspect joined when they both attended Tallahassee State, according to KSBW. Seybold said the suspect was known for embracing racist and white supremacist views that led to other club members asking him to leave the group.
“He would complain about Black people pretty regularly, especially when conversations of police brutality would come up,” Seybold said. “He made people that uncomfortable. I personally know him to have complained about how multiculturalism and communism are ruining America.”
Lucas Luzietti, another former Tallahassee State classmate, said the suspect openly talked about having a weapon.
“He would joke about mass violence, and he did talk about how he used guns and had access to them,” said Luzietti. “He espoused the election denialism belief that Joe Biden was not the legitimate president, he said that Rosa Parks was in the wrong, he also talked about how Black people are ruining his neighborhood and Stonewell was bad for society.”
The suspect has no criminal record. In Florida, training and background checks are not required to carry concealed guns in public.
