Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FSU Shooting Suspect Said To Have Mental Health History, Access To Guns
CBS News: 2 Dead, 6 Injured After Shooting At FSU. Here's Everything That We Know.
According to Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil, the 20-year-old suspect is the son of one of his deputies, saying his mother has been with the force for 18 years and that he was involved in the sheriff's office programs. The shooter also used his mother's former service weapon — now a personal handgun — which was found at the scene. "Not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons," McNeil said. According to Revell, the shooter also had a shotgun with him during the shooting but could not confirm whether it was used. (Geisel, 4/17)
ABC News: What To Know About Phoenix Ikner: Alleged FSU Gunman And Stepson Of Sheriff's Deputy
Twenty-year-old Phoenix Ikner was previously at the center of a protracted battle between his parents that featured a custody dispute stretching from the Florida panhandle to Norway, according to court documents. At the time of the custody dispute, the suspect was a child and was known as Christian Gunnar Eriksen. Christian was taken by his biological mother to Norway in March 2015 in violation of a child custody order, according to a 2015 probable cause affidavit from the Leon County Sheriff's Office. ... "Mr. Ikner advised that Christian has developmental delays and has special needs which he feared would not be taken care of without access to his doctors here in the United States." The sheriff's affidavit said the child was on medication for "several health and mental issues, to include a growth hormone disorder and ADHD." (Sarnoff, Shapiro, Katersky, Thomas, Margolin and Kofsky, 4/18)
The New York Times: Several FSU Students Also Endured Parkland School Shooting
It was not the first time some of them had barricaded themselves in a room at school. The sight of law enforcement officers in tactical gear, sweeping campus for a gunman, was familiar. So was the fear for several students who sheltered in place during Thursday’s deadly shooting at Florida State University and shared a traumatizing coincidence: They had endured the Parkland, Fla., school massacre in 2018. (Vigdor and Hassan, 4/17)
Newsweek: FSU Active Shooter Alerts Went Off Minutes After Scheduled Police Training
Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) officers were scheduled for a training session on Thursday afternoon as the first alerts involving a Florida State University (FSU) active shooter spread across social media. In a post to Facebook at 10:10 a.m. ET Thursday, TPD alerted the community of the training planned for the Tactical Apprehension and Control Team. "During this training session, you may hear loud bangs, crashes, sirens, and see officers with firearms displayed," the post said in part. ... X account @Aesthetica, with nearly 500,000 followers, noted the training and added in part, "At first students didn't realize it was a real shooting." (Commander, 4/17)
Tallahassee Democrat: FSU Shooting Is 6th Florida Mass Shooting In 2025
This marks the sixth mass shooting in Florida so far in 2025 out of 81 in the United States, according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, which defines "mass shooting" as incidents resulting in four or more people getting shot, not counting the shooter. (Bridges, 4/17)
The New York Times: Trump Calls FSU Shooting A ‘Shame,’ But Signals No Shift In Gun Laws
President Trump said on Thursday that the shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee that killed two people and injured six was a “shame,” but suggested that it would not prompt him to support any new gun control legislation. “These things are terrible, but the gun doesn’t do the shooting — the people do,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s, you know, a phrase that’s used probably too often. I will tell you that it’s a shame.” (Wolfe, 4/18)
On the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting —
Bloomberg: Luigi Mangione Indicted On Federal Murder Charges In Shooting Of Brian Thompson
Luigi Mangione was indicted on federal murder charges in the shooting of a UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive, paving the way for US prosecutors to pursue the death penalty against him. Mangione’s federal case has now been assigned to a US judge, who will rule on disputes in the case and oversee a trial. Mangione has separately been charged by New York state prosecutors with Brian Thompson’s murder and awaits trial. (Hurtado, Van Voris, and Voreacos, 4/17)
Bloomberg: UnitedHealth Group Tries To Repair Image After CEO Shooting
Inside UnitedHealth Group Inc., the company is a force for good. Employees often describe its work as a “mission.” The public perception, though, is that it’s a faceless giant denying care to boost profits. That narrative exploded through a barrage of sinister social media posts after executive Brian Thompson was killed on his way to an investor meeting in December. (Tozzi, 4/16)
