FSU mass shooting suspect Phoenix Ikner denied bond day after hospital release

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The man suspected of killing two and injuring six others after opening fire on the Florida State University campus April 17 was denied bond during a court appearance Tuesday.

Phoenix Ikner, 20, appeared in a Leon County, Florida, court, where he was found to be indigent by Circuit Court Judge Monique Richardson. 

He was appointed a public defender, Randall Harper. Fox News Digital reached out to Harper. 

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY ALLEGED MASS SHOOTER APPEARS IN MUGSHOT WITH DISFIGURED FACE AFTER HOSPITAL RELEASE

Phoenix Ikner, 20, was booked on first-degree murder charges and related counts Monday after he was released from the hospital where he had been since a mass shooting on the Tallahassee campus April 17. (Leon County Sheriff’s Office)

Ikner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder with a gun. 

Along with requesting Ikner be held without bond, the state also asked the court to order him not to have contact with the victims’ families or any potential witnesses to the alleged crime. 

MORE DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SHOOTING SUSPECT PHOENIX IKNER AS MOTIVE REMAINS A MYSTERY

Law enforcement works on the Florida State University campus after a mass shooting in Tallahassee, Fla., April 17, 2025.  (Alicia Devine/USA Today Network via Imagn Images via Reuters)

Richardson granted both of the state’s requests after Harper waived an argument against those requests for the time being. 

On Monday, Ikner’s mugshot was released for the first time since the shooting. 

Phoenix Ikner, the alleged Florida State University shooter, appears in court for the first time Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

He spent several weeks in the hospital recovering from multiple surgeries to treat a jaw injury after being shot in the face by responding officers the day of the mass shooting. 

After he was booked, Ikner was transferred to the Wakulla County Detention Facility, which Tallahassee Chief of Police Lawrence Revell said was standard policy, given that Ikner’s stepmother is a sheriff’s deputy with the Leon County Sheriff’s Department. 

Phoenix Ikner, the alleged Florida State University shooter, appears in court for the first time Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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“In any case, especially one of this magnitude, the Tallahassee Police Department has the highest commitment to justice, transparency and the safety of our community,” Revell said in a news release. “We are grateful for the work of our detectives, officers, medical personnel and partner agencies who helped bring us to this point.”

People evacuate the Florida State University campus after a mass shooting in Tallahassee, Fla., April 17, 2025. (Alicia Devine/USA Today Network via Imagn Images via Reuters)

Ikner’s checkered past has been a subject of interest since the shooting. 

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He was allegedly kidnapped by his biological mother in violation of a custody agreement in 2015, when he was 11, and taken to Norway, according to court records. 

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price and Greg Norman contributed to this report. 

Peter D’Abrosca joined Fox News Digital in 2025 after four years as a politics reporter at The Tennessee Star. 

He grew up in Rhode Island and is a graduate of Elon University. 

Follow Peter on X at @pmd_reports. Send story tips to peter.dabrosca@fox.com.