The Shooting: A dreadful timeline
According to Tallahassee Police at 11 am, FSU student Phoenix Ikner arrived at the student parking garage and waited there for around an hour. At 11:51 AM he left and just 5 minutes later, at 11:56 am, the first shot was fired. For the next 4 minutes after this, he would move around open areas and cause irreversible damage to students, faculty members, visitors, and families. By 12 pm he was shot and detained by police officers who had been alerted through 911 calls. An emergency alert was given at 12:02 PM.
Two individuals were killed: Robert Morales, an FSU dining coordinator, and Tiru Chabba, a visiting Aramark executive and father of two. Moreover, 6 people were injured. However, as of today, April 22nd, 5 of the 6 people have been discharged from the Hospital.
Stories Of Survival
One of the victims who was shot (Madison Askins, 23) described having to pretend to be dead to avoid being shot again. Moreover, Senior Meghan Bannister recalls how her class fell into silence and fear when students were unaware that the classroom doors automatically locked from the outside. The students believed they were vulnerable and began crying and shaking. As a result, a petition with now over 30k signatures (As of April 22nd), is calling for clearer communication and ensuring all doors have locks.
A criminology perspective:
From a criminological standpoint, Phoenix’s profile raised significant concerns. As a child he was kidnapped by his mother during a custody dispute and by college he was known to express radical theories. In fact, he had been removed from political student groups for extreme behavior and using Nazi imagery in gaming profiles. It’s also important to note that he changed his name, his original one being Christopher. These experiences suggest a pattern of strain and detachment. General strain theory and Social Control theory could be used to explain the crime, general strain theory was developed by Robert Agnew and argued that individuals that experience significant strain related to trauma, failure, or loss, may turn to crime when they lack coping mechanisms. “Christophers” unstable childhood and adoption of extreme ideologies led to a significant toll. Additionally, social control theory suggests that weakened bonds to things like family and school can increase the likelihood of criminal behavior. Ikner’s family life and his alienation from student groups may reflect this. Despite this, he was given access to firearms, including one that was reportedly linked to his stepmom. This exemplifies a failure in community awareness and in gun safety.
Lawmakers Response:
This shooting reignited anger and frustration toward the Florida legislature which just weeks earlier passed a bill lowering the minimum age to buy rifles. The age was lowered from 21-18.
Final thoughts:
The FSU shooting will truly stay in the hearts of many Floridians for a long time. We will unfortunately remember April 17 as a highlight of the flaws in our society. If anyone wishes to help support them, there is a GoFundMe to support Askins recovery: https://www.gofundme.com/f/maddie-strong-hope-healing-and-heart-after-fsu-shooting
Criminally Informed 
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