New bodycam footage shows officers responding to mass shooting at FSU as victims’ families seek answers a year later
Apr 10, 2026
New body camera footage showing the moments officers arrived at Florida State University to confront a gunman has been released. The footage comes as families of the victims continue searching for answers nearly one year after the tragedy.
The new footage released by the State Attorney’s Office
offers a different view at the shooting that killed two people and injured several others last April.
“One victim over there,” an officer is heard saying.
Officials also released the recordings of the 911 calls made to alert first responders.
“Can you tell me exactly what’s happening?” a dispatcher said.
“There’s a shooter at the FSU Student Union,” the caller said.
The bodycam video also shows the moments law enforcement officers confronted the suspected gunman, firing shots and arresting him.
Police later identified the suspect as Phoenix Ikner, a political science student at the university. Authorities say Ikner used a gun that belonged to his stepmother, who served as a deputy for the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.
Earlier this week, newly released court documents showed Ikner’s alleged conversations with ChatGPT on the day of the shooting. The messages reportedly included questions about the university, mass shootings and prompts asking when FSU’s Student Union was the busiest.
Tallahassee attorneys have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, on behalf of one of the victims, claiming the artificial intelligence tool aided the alleged gunman carry out the deadly shooting.
“We’ve also learned that ChatGPT may likely have been used,” said Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Ikner faces nine charges, including first-degree murder.
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