Another fatal school shooting has occurred in America. At Florida State University, a shooter opened fire at students, resulting in two fatalities and six people injured.
After the terrible tragedy occurred, President Donald Trump addressed the press, but his statement caused controversy.
On April 17th, 2025, a gunman opened fire at Florida State University which resulted in two deaths and about six people being injured according to reports.The alleged shooter has been identified as Phoenix Ikner. The 20-year-old is reportedly the son of a police officer and is thought to have used his mother’s former service weapon in the attack.
During a press conference at the White House, President Donald Trump addressed the school shooting. He said to the press, “These things are terrible.”
In his statement, Trump reiterated his support for the Second Amendment by saying that he is ‘a big advocate of the Second Amendment’, noting that he has ‘from the beginning’ ‘protected it’.
As for the violent incident, Trump said, “The gun doesn’t do the shooting, the people do.”
“I will tell you that it’s a shame I’m just hearing about it now, I know the area very well, I know the school very well. And we’ll have more to say about it later, we’ll see what happens,” the POTUS said.
When the press asked him to elaborate on what he means by ‘see what happens,’ he replied, “Only in terms of what happens as far as legislation’s concerned, this has been going on a long time.”
However, he did succinctly clarify that “I have an obligation to protect the Second Amendment.”
“I ran on the Second Amendment – on many other things – and I will always protect the Second Amendment,” the President stated.
A lot of people were unhappy with Trump’s response. One person wrote, “”Sorry about the dead people, but I love guns.” Their ashes are not even cold yet. Completely disgraceful and unchristian.”
“Trump’s response to the FSU shooting is callous, deflecting with “guns don’t shoot, people do” ignores the tragedy and the need for real solutions. His Second Amendment obsession drowns out victims’ voices,” another X user added.
Florida State University school shooter has been identified as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, the son of Leon County Sheriff's Deputy Jessica Ikner.
20-year-old suspect was also a "long-standing member" of the Leon County Sheriff's Office's Youth Advisory Council. pic.twitter.com/oVKnpe4RWW
— K-12 School Shooting Database (@K12ssdb) April 17, 2025
Another exasperated person wrote, “This rarely happens in countries that don’t have guns. All of them have people.” And another angry user added, “The gun literally does the shooting. He is a moron.”
The suspected shooter was shot and taken to the hospital, where it was reported that he is being treated for ‘serious but non-life-threatening injuries,’ according to Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell.The motive for the shooting is unclear and the names of those who were killed and injured have not yet been made public.
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