TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Phoenix Ikner, the 20-year-old Florida State University student accused of shooting and killing two people on campus Thursday, suffered from “several health and mental issues” as a child and was taken by his mother, who fled the country, court records indicate.
Originally known as Christian Eriksen, acquaintances said Ikner changed his name following a years-long custody battle between his parents.
Authorities allege Ikner’s birth mother fled the country with her son in violation of a court order when he was 11 years old.
As part of a plea agreement in that kidnapping case, the birth mother was ordered to have no contact with Ikner, who was raised in Tallahassee by his father and stepmother, a longtime Leon County deputy sheriff.
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Authorities say a handgun belonging to Deputy Jessica Ikner was found at FSU after law enforcement shot and wounded her stepson while trying to take him into custody. The gun had previously been the deputy’s service weapon before she purchased it from the agency for personal use, investigators said.
Ikner’s father married the deputy in 2010, when his son was 6 years old.
By then, court records show the father had been in a protracted custody dispute with his son’s birth mother, Anne Mari Eriksen, who held dual citizenship in the U.S. and Norway.
In March 2015, Christopher Ikner told authorities Eriksen had traveled to Norway with their son in violation of a custody agreement.
“Mr. Ikner advised that Christian has developmental delays and has special needs, which he feared would not be taken care of without access to doctors here in the United States,” a detective wrote.
The report indicates Ikner was on medication for “several health and mental issues” that included a growth hormone disorder and ADHD.
“It became clear through the emails exchanged in early April that [Eriksen] had no intention of returning Christian to Tallahassee,” a report states.
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Three months later, after a judge granted Christopher Ikner full custody of his son, court records show Eriksen was arrested at the Fort Lauderdale airport on a warrant for kidnapping a minor and removing the child from the state.
While awaiting trial, Eriksen filed a lawsuit against her son’s father and stepmother, alleging that the boy was “the victim of psychological and emotional abuse, as well as parental alienation.” The lawsuit was quickly dismissed because Eriksen failed to formally serve the defendants.
Eriksen later pleaded no contest to removing a minor from the state and was sentenced to 200 days in jail, followed by 2 years of community control and 2 years of supervised probation, court records indicate.
As part of a 2016 plea agreement, Eriksen was ordered to have no contact with her son, who was still using the name Christian.
By 2021, Eriksen’s son had changed his name to Phoenix Ikner and had joined the Leon County Sheriff’s Office Youth Advisory Council, a group established by his stepmother’s employer to “provide an open line of communication between the youth of Leon County and local law enforcement.”
Jacob West, 18, served on the youth council alongside Ikner from 2021-2022. He remembered Ikner as a “cool dude” and an “enthusiastic” member of the council.
“He always loved bringing ideas to the table,” West recalled. “And he was a big fan of community service.”
West said he was “terrified” when he learned that Ikner was the suspected culprit in the shooting.
“Back then he used to be there and ready to help people,” West said. “Which is kind of weird to me — that it just all of a sudden changed.”
West said he had not spoken to Ikner since 2022, but he remembered Ikner approaching topics at a “philosopher’s angle.”
“He’s always thought of every outcome before performing an action,” West said.
Ikner has never been charged with any crimes prior to the FSU shooting, court records show.
In 2022, a high school senior year photo of Ikner was posted on a Facebook page that appears to belong to Eriksen.
“Love being my son Christian Gunnar (Phoenix) mother,” another Facebook post states.
