TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered the Florida State University student accused of killing two people and wounding six others in a mass shooting on campus last month to remain jailed without bond.
During 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner’s first court appearance since the April 17 attack, Leon County Judge Monique Richardson ordered Ikner to have no contact with the victims and their families and approved the appointment of two public defenders for him, Megan Long and Randall Harper. The attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ikner, who was shot and wounded by officers, ending the attack, sat quietly during the hearing, which he appeared at via video from a lockup in a neighboring county. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Ikner is the stepson of a local sheriff’s deputy, and investigators say he used his stepmother’s former service weapon to carry out the shooting, which terrified the campus and the state’s capital city.
Ikner was formally charged Monday after being released from a hospital. He was booked into the Leon County Detention Facility and then transferred to a jail in nearby Wakulla County, which is standard procedure when an inmate is related to a Leon County deputy, authorities said.
Investigators say that on the day of the attack, Ikner, an FSU political science student, arrived on campus and stayed near a parking garage until just before lunchtime, when he began walking into and out of buildings and green spaces while firing his gun. In less than five minutes, officers confronted Ikner, shooting and wounding him.
Authorities have not revealed a motive for the attack, which killed two men and wounded six other people.
If Ikner is convicted of the murder charges, he could face the death penalty.
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
