The suspected gunman in a deadly shooting at a Florida State University campus in Tallahassee last month made his first court appearance Tuesday, when a judge ordered him held without bond.
Phoenix Ikner, 20, is accused of killing two people and wounding several others after opening fire near the university’s student union just before lunchtime on April 17.
The FSU political science student, who’s the stepson of a local sheriff’s deputy, was released from a local hospital Monday “following an extended stay and multiple surgeries to treat injuries he sustained during the April 17 shooting,” the Tallahassee Police Department said in a statement.
He was formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder and transferred to a jail in nearby Wakulla County.
On Tuesday, nearly four weeks after the deadly attack, Ikner appeared before Leon County Judge Monique Richardson via video and was ordered not to have any contact with any victims or their families.
Richardson also approved the appointment of two public defenders, Megan Long and Randall Harper.
Two people were killed in the mass shooting: 57-year-old Robert Morales, a longtime school dining employee, and 45-year-old Tiru Chabba, a married father of two from South Carolina who worked for a university vendor.
Five other victims were wounded by gunfire, while another person was injured while attempting to run from the shooting, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said.
Charging papers suggest that Ikner pointed a shotgun at one victim, but the weapon appeared to malfunction, the local CBS affiliate WCTV reported.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the attack.
If convicted of the top charge, Ikner could face the death penalty.
With News Wire Services
