Trump on FSU Shooting That Killed 2 and Injured 6: ‘The Gun Doesn’t Do the Shooting’

President Donald Trump is weighing in on the deadly mass shooting at Florida State University on Thursday, April 17.

A gunman opened fire on the university’s Tallahassee campus Thursday afternoon, leaving two dead and at least six injured. A suspect, identified by police as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, is in custody, a Tallahassee police spokesperson previously confirmed to PEOPLE. The two deceased victims have not been publicly identified; however, police say they are not students.

While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office Thursday, Trump was asked if there are any changes he wants to see in gun legislation due to the shooting.

“I’m a big advocate of the Second Amendment, I have been from the beginning,” Trump said in a clip published by C-SPAN. “I protected it.”

“These things are terrible. But the gun doesn’t do the shooting, the people do — a phrase that’s used probably too often,” Trump continued. “It’s a shame. I’m just hearing about it now. I know the area very well, I know the school very well, it’s Florida.”

Trump said he will “have more to say” in the future, “Only in terms of what happened.” However, he does not plan on pushing for changes in legislation.

“This has been going on for a long time. I have an obligation to protect the Second Amendment, I ran on the Second Amendment among many other things, and I will always protect the Second Amendment.”

Throughout the 2024 presidential election, Trump kept the protection of the Second Amendment at the forefront of his campaign. In 2025, the Trump administration announced plans to roll back a program that cracks down on federally licensed gun dealers who falsify business records, and has plans to skip customer background checks, per the New York Times.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also addressed the fatal shooting in a video shared to his official X account. He stated that he and his wife, Casey DeSantis, “stand in solidarity and are praying for the entire Florida State community.”

“We’re mourning the two individuals who lost their lives,” DeSantis continued, adding, “And we wish well those who are currently recovering in the hospital. This killer must and will be brought to justice to the fullest extent of the law.”

DeSantis also thanked first responders who were able to neutralize the suspect and stop him “from inflicting more harm.”

“We are all Seminoles today,” said DeSantis, referencing the university’s mascot.

Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil stated in a press conference earlier that Ikner is the son of a sheriff’s deputy who had been with the department for 18 years.

Authorities believe he is a student at the university, per the Associated Press. Florida State University Police Department is in charge of the investigation, the Leon County Sheriff’s Department told PEOPLE.

Three different guns were found in connection with the suspect: a handgun on him at the scene, a shotgun in the student union, and another handgun in the suspect’s car, CNN reports.

A motive for the mass shooting at Florida State University remains under investigation.