Prosecutor says families were 'blindsided' by FSU shooting video

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Prosecutors said new body camera and security footage from the deadly 2025 shooting at Florida State University should never have been released after the videos were accidentally made public without proper redactions following a flood of records requests in the case.

A Florida State University (FSU) student is accused of opening fire at the school's student union, killing two people and injuring five others with gunfire in April 2025, according to authorities. The suspect, Phoenix Ikner, faces charges of first-degree murder and the death penalty.

Recently released videos showed moments of panic inside the student union as bystanders realize what's unfolding and the moment an FSU police officer takes down Ikner to arrest him. But when the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network, requested copies of the videos, the State Attorney's Office of the Second Judicial Circuit said "some protected records were mistakenly released" when fulfilling a previous records request.

"Due to this error, there is an ongoing review of pending records requests to address and remove the records that were inadvertently released," the State Attorney's Office said. "Once this review has been completed, your records request will be answered."

What do the videos show?

The footage featured across news outlets, including local TV news stations WTXL and WCTV, begins seconds before an FSU police officer rides up to the scene and fires his first shots at Ikner while still seated on his motorcycle.

"Stay on the ground now," the officer yelled after firing at least a dozen bullets.

He then took off running toward Ikner as a bystander ran past him trying to get away. Another officer's camera later showed a handcuffed Ikner lying on the ground as officers waited for medics to attend to the facial wound he endured when the officer "neutralized" the threat.

Before this, soundless surveillance camera footage showed Ikner running through the union with his gun, with one camera angle even catching him chasing down two students. Students could be seen studying, eating, and working on their computers. Within seconds, everyone scrambled to exit the building and avoid flying bullets.

Later footage showed that other officers' cameras captured the process of clearing the campus and releasing students from classrooms. Students are seen walking out of classrooms and buildings with their hands up, and some who have phones in hand on calls with loved ones.

One video snippet showed an officer helping a wounded victim alongside paramedics.

"Let me check your blood pressure," a paramedic could be heard saying. "Run that way," the officer shouted to a student who was running by. "Keep your hands up and run that way for me."

More body camera footage from the officer who shot down Ikner showed FSU Police Chief Jason Trumbower praising him for his heroism.

"Are you the one who shot him?" Trumbower asked. "I shot him, yes, sir," the officer said.

"OK, good job," Trumbower replied. "You good?"

Why won't the State Attorney's Office release the footage?

State Attorney Jack Campbell told the Tallahassee Democrat he knew people would argue that the videos are already out there, so there's no reason to withhold them now. He disagreed.

"Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Campbell said. “Just because I made one mistake doesn’t mean I should make another."

Campbell explained that the videos were accidentally released without proper redactions after a deluge of record requests piled up asking for Ikner's chat logs with ChatGPT. The Tallahassee Democrat broke news that a lawsuit was being filed against the leading AI chatbot.

Records showed Ikner was in "constant communication" with the chatbot before the shooting occurred.

Campbell said he immediately shut down the release of footage from his office once he realized what happened and took full responsibility for the mistake because raw videos weren't supposed to be released for several reasons.

Chief among them is that surveillance footage cannot be given out, he said, because it allows future criminals to see where cops are surveilling, which could potentially aid them in evading arrest. There are videos where officers were seen running up to victims, and victims are identified. Campbell said victims' names and faces are supposed to be redacted, especially those who asked to remain confidential.

And on a personal level, Campbell said he had promised the victims they could view the footage first.

"I had told the victims that I would let them see (them) in a controlled and intimate setting before they had to see it on the news," he added.

Campbell said he's very upset this happened and that he hurt the victims' families. They were alerted as soon as he saw what happened.

"We blindsided them," he said.

What happened in the FSU shooting?

Authorities said a suspect opened fire near FSU's student union at about 11:50 a.m. local time on April 17, 2025, striking multiple people and triggering a campus-wide lockdown as students ran for cover.

Campus police arrived at the scene "almost immediately" and shot the suspect, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said at the time. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to the hospital with "serious but non-life-threatening injuries," according to Revell.

Two victims, Robert Morales and Tiru Chabba — who were not students — were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Six people were hospitalized for injuries, including five who suffered gunshot wounds and another person who was injured while running away from the shooting.

Ikner allegedly brought two firearms to campus the day of the shooting, a 12-gauge shotgun and a .45 caliber Glock, according to a Leon County grand jury report. Both were taken from the home of his stepmother, a veteran deputy with the Leon County Sheriff's Office, and his father.

Tallahassee police later revealed that Ikner "was shot once, in the jaw" and had been "neutralized" by an FSU police officer early in his attack. Ikner was later released from the hospital.

Contributing: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY