LOS ANGELES.–Twenty-year-old Florida State University student Phoenix Ikner went ballistic April 17, killing two and injuring six seriously at the student union. Phoenix was the stepson of Leon County Sheriff’s officer Jessica Ikner, using her spare guns to commit the mayhem. “Her service to this community has been exceptional,” said Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil. “Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons and that was one of the weapons that was found at the scene. And we are continuing that investigation into how that weapon was used. Well, no matter how the weapon was used, gone owners have an obligation to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of teenagers and young adults. Leon County Sheriff knows the Nov. 30, 2021 case of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley who used his parents 9mm semiautomatic to massacre four students at Oxford High School.
Crumbley’s parents Jennifer and James, were convicted and sentenced April 9, 2024 to four counts of manslaughter carrying 15-year sentences, with a minimum of time service of 10 years in prison. So, no matter how exemplary Jessica Ikner’s service to the Leon County Sheriff the District Attorney will have to consider Phoenix Ikner’s access to her weapons. Tallahassee’s Leon County District Attorney knows the laws as they pertain to parental responsibility for keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of teenagers and young adults. Taken into custody, there is no longer a threat to Florida State students, some of whom survived the Feb. 14, 2018 massacre at Parkland High School where 18 students lost their lives. Now another mass shooting at Florida State University, with the same dynamics involved in young ballistic killers. Always someone with mental illness.
FBI officials swarmed the FSU campus with their colleagues from the ATF’s Tampa office, assisting local law enforcement in what’s become an all-too-common scenario of gun deaths in America. “My team and I are monitoring report of an active shooter on FSU’s campus. It’s too early to understand the extent of the violence, but early reports are very disturbing,” said Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fl.) wrote on X. Whatever eyewitness reports, witnessing school shooting, whether directly or indirectly, can be traumatic. “I was walking home and then this one guy was like chasing another guy,” recalled sophomore Ben Veytsman. Firsthand reports show students fleeing from the scene after hearing shots, not knowing the extent of injuries. One student Reid Seybold who attended political science class with Ikner said he knew him from Talahassee State College and wasn’t surprised.
Seybold said he was in a discussion group with Ikner that asked him to leave the group because of his extremist right wing views. According to Ikner’s father, Christopher, Phoenix had developmental problems, was treated in Norway with hormones for ADD and other developmental disorders. Phoenix was subjected to a custody dispute in which his biological mother illegally took him to Norway, eventually forced to return him to Florida. Ikner’s father new that there were mental problems with his son, all the more reason for both parents, including Deputy Sheriff Jessica Ikner, to keep her weapons locked up as securely as possible. Reports from other classmates said the Phoenix expressed racist, fascist views, claiming that that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Ikner’s classmates at Tallahassee State College claimed he frightened other students with his extremist views.
Leon County District Attorney James Caleb Henson will have to look carefully at whether charges need to be brought against Christopher and Jessica Ikner. Whether she served as an exemplary member of Leon County Sheriff’s Department or not, she allowed her mentally disturbed 20-year-old son to have access to dangerous weapons. Reports that Ikner had a shotgun, AK-47 assault rifle and 9mm semiautomatic at the crime scene showed he meant business to kill as many FSU students and personnel as possible. If Henson applies Florida law appropriately, he’ll have to consider charging both parents with manslaughter, knowing they didn’t keep Jessica’s arsenal in a secure place. Florida may have different laws than the ones that applied to the Crumbley case in Michigan. So, it’s not known yet whether Henson has statutes that require prosecuting parents.
Florida’s conservative gun laws probably leave Jessica Ikner off the hook for security her arsenal of dangerous weapons from his mentally ill stepson. Certainly, Florida has had its share of mass shootings involving teenagers and others. How ironic that survivors of the Parkland massacre has to deal with yet another act of gun violence on a school campus, years after their friends were laid to rest after the Feb. 14, 2018 massacre at Parkland High School. President Donald Trump expressed his condolences saying it was “horrible that things like this take place,” but offering no promises of more gun control. “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. When the dust settles, Florida officials should heed expert warnings that guns should be kept out of the reach of mentally ill teenagers and young adults.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
