- Susan Eriksen, the biological maternal grandmother of Phoenix Ikner — the alleged gunman in the April 17 mass shooting at Florida State University — said that his father and stepmother had negatively influenced him before the shooting
- “They taught him how to hunt, they’re bigoted people, they hated a lot of people,” Susan said
- Phoenix is accused of killing two people and injuring six others
The grandmother of the alleged gunman in the mass shooting at Florida State University is speaking out about her grandson and his parents, calling them “rotten bastard people.”
In an interview with The Daily Mail, 79-year-old Susan Eriksen, the biological maternal grandmother of Phoenix Ikner, said that the 20-year-old’s father and stepmother had negatively influenced him before the shooting.
“They taught him how to hunt, they’re bigoted people, they hated a lot of people,” Susan told the outlet on Friday, April 18.
Phoenix, who reportedly held white supremacist political views, was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing two people and injuring six others at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee on Thursday, April 17.
“He was the sweetest kid, smart,” Susan added, before calling Phoenix’s parents “rotten bastard people.”
The 20-year-old’s stepmother is Leon County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Ikner.
“We had just found a new phone number a couple of months ago and tried to call the house and the father picked up the phone, hung up and changed the number. That was Chrissie, a——,” Susan continued, referring to Phoenix’s father, Christopher Ikner.
Susan is the mother of Anne-Mari Eriksen, the alleged shooter’s biological mother, who did not have custody of him after 2015. Anne-Mari was arrested in 2015 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after taking her son to Europe against his father’s wishes, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.
When she eventually returned to the United States, Anne-Mari pleaded no contest to the charge of removing a minor from the state, court records show. It’s unclear how often Phoenix and his mother were in contact following this incident.
However, Anne-Mari briefly spoke to The Daily Mail, telling the outlet, “I’m just as shocked as everybody else.”
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The shooting began around 11:50 a.m. local time, authorities told members of the media on April 17. Phoenix allegedly used his stepmother’s handgun in the shooting, according to Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil.
“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons,” the sheriff said.
Florida State University Police Chief Jason Trumbower said responding officers “neutralized” Phoenix at the scene and took him into custody. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was being treated for serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Two men who worked at the food service company Aramark were identified as victims in the shooting. Robert Morales was a dining coordinator at FSU, and Tiru Chabba was a regional vice president with Aramark Collegiate Hospitality, according to their respective LinkedIn profiles.
McNeil said that Phoenix was “deeply embedded” in the sheriff department’s community and that his stepmother Jessica has been with the department for 18 years.
Several students who knew the 20-year-old have spoken out about his behavior prior to the shooting, calling him a fascist and white supremacist.
Reid Seybold, who knew Phoenix through a student political discussion group a few years before the shooting, said Phoenix’s views made others uncomfortable.
“He espoused so much white supremacist rhetoric and far-right rhetoric, as well,” Seybold told NBC News. “He had continually made enough people uncomfortable where certain people had stopped coming. That’s kind of when we reached the breaking point with Phoenix, and we asked him to leave.”
Phoenix’s views included comments such as “ravages of multiculturalism … [were] ruining America,” Seybold told the outlet.
Police have not yet shared a specific motive for the killings.
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