When you search for a picture of FSU shooter, your screen usually fills with one of two very different faces. One is an older, professional-looking man in a suit, a lawyer named Myron May from 2014. The other is a much younger guy, Phoenix Ikner, whose face became synonymous with a terrifying day in April 2025.
Honestly, the photos are jarring because they don't look like what we’ve been conditioned to expect. They don't look like "monsters" in the Hollywood sense. They look like people you’d pass in the Student Union or see at a library desk.
That’s the part that sticks with you.
The 2014 Strozier Library Incident: Myron May
If you’re looking at a photo of a man who looks like a successful professional, you’re likely seeing Myron May. He was 31. He was an FSU alum. He was a lawyer licensed in Texas and New Mexico.
On November 20, 2014, around 12:30 a.m., May walked into the Strozier Library. It was "Club Stroz" hours—that time of night when the library is packed with hundreds of students fueled by caffeine and finals stress. He didn't get far. He opened fire near the entrance, wounding two students and an employee.
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Police confronted him quickly on the access ramp outside. They told him to drop the gun. He didn't. He fired at them, and they returned fire, killing him right there.
- The Motive: It wasn't about grades or a bad breakup. May was in the middle of a massive mental health crisis.
- The Paranoia: He genuinely believed the government was bugging his car and reading his mind. He even handed a car part to an ex-girlfriend, claiming it was a camera the police had planted.
- The Aftermath: No students died that night, but the psychological scar on "Seminole Nation" was deep.
The 2025 Student Union Shooting: Phoenix Ikner
The more recent picture of FSU shooter that started circulating in 2025 belongs to Phoenix Ikner. He was 20 years old at the time. This incident felt different because it happened in broad daylight, right at the Student Union.
April 17, 2025. It was just before noon.
Ikner pulled up in an orange Hummer. Imagine that—a bright orange vehicle in the middle of a campus. Witnesses saw him get out with a rifle and start shooting toward the lawn. When the rifle seemingly jammed or he decided to switch, he went back to the car for a pistol.
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This wasn't a quick hit-and-run. He chased people. He entered the Student Union building. He targeted staff and vendors. By the time the dust settled, two people were dead: Robert Morales, a 57-year-old dining director, and Tiru Chabba, a 45-year-old vendor employee.
Why the Mugshot of Phoenix Ikner Caused a Stir
The picture of FSU shooter Phoenix Ikner became a major talking point because of his background. His stepmother was a school reserve deputy. The guns he used? He got them from her.
It opened up a messy conversation about "insider threats" and how someone "deeply embedded in the sheriff department’s community," as the local sheriff put it, could slip through the cracks. Ikner had a history that included developmental delays and a kidnapping by his biological mother when he was ten.
He was a guy who had been through the system and was a part of the "law enforcement family," yet he ended up being the person the police had to take down.
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What Most People Get Wrong About These Images
Social media has a habit of turning these photos into memes or using them to push specific political agendas. You’ll see the picture of FSU shooter Myron May used to talk about "Targeted Individuals" and conspiracy theories because that’s what he believed in. You’ll see Phoenix Ikner’s photo used in heated debates about gun storage and police families.
But for the people who were actually there—the students who barricaded themselves in bathrooms or hid behind plywood in the basement—these aren't just "pictures." They are reminders of a total breakdown in safety.
Direct Comparison: May vs. Ikner
| Detail | Myron May (2014) | Phoenix Ikner (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Strozier Library | Student Union |
| Time | 12:30 AM (Midnight) | 11:57 AM (Noon) |
| Status | FSU Alumnus / Lawyer | FSU Student |
| Weapon Source | Legal purchase / Personal | Stepmother (Sheriff's Deputy) |
| Outcome | Suspect deceased, 3 injured | Suspect captured, 2 dead, 7 injured |
Practical Steps for Campus Safety Today
If you’re a student or a parent looking into this, don't just focus on the morbid details of the photos. Focus on what’s changed. FSU has ramped up its "FSU Alert" system significantly since 2014.
- Download the SeminoleSAFE App. It’s the fastest way to get turn-by-turn instructions during an emergency.
- Know the "Run, Hide, Fight" protocol. It sounds cliché until you're the one in the Student Union hearing pops that sound like bubble wrap but aren't.
- Audit Your Own Awareness. Both shooters were "known" to have issues before they snapped. If you see a peer or a colleague acting paranoid or showing signs of a crisis, report it to the university's "Noles Care" program. It’s better to be wrong than to stay silent.
The picture of FSU shooter serves as a grim archive of how mental health and easy access to weapons can collide. Whether it's the professional lawyer or the student in the orange T-shirt, the reality is that these events reshape a campus forever. Understanding the facts behind the faces is the only way to move past the sensationalism and toward actual prevention.
Ensure you have the latest emergency contacts saved in your phone and take the time to look at the campus maps for "safe zones" in the buildings you frequent most. Awareness is your best defense.