A Florida State University (FSU) student survived his second school shooting on Thursday, after hiding from an active shooter at both his university and his high school in less than a decade.
Josh Gallagher, a law school student at FSU, posted to X (formerly Twitter) to say he was also a survivor of the shooting that resulted in the deaths of 14 students and three members of staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
Gallagher said: “No matter your politics, we need to meet—and something has to change.”
Newsweek has contacted Gallagher for further comment via LinkedIn.
Main: Kate Payne, Inset: Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo
Why It Matters
Florida implemented Red Flag laws—laws which temporarily remove firearms from people deemed a threat to themselves or others—following the Parkland shooting, but gun-control advocates believe much more needs to be done to protect people from gun violence in the state, and in the U.S.
President Donald Trump, however, has indicated he is not open to changing gun laws at this time. In response to the shooting at the university, he said: “These things are terrible,” but in terms of legislation he has “an obligation to protect the Second Amendment.”
What To Know
Two people were shot dead on Thursday, and at least six people including the suspect were hospitalized, after a gunman opened fire at the FSU campus in Tallahassee on Thursday at around midday local time.
The suspect is enrolled student Phoenix Ikner. The 20-year-old is the son of a Leon County deputy sheriff. The gun used in the shooting belonged to Ikner’s mother.
“He has been steeped in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have,” Leon County Sheriff Walter A. McNeil told the press. “So it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons.”
Gary McCullough/AP Photo
Ikner is a political science major at the school who shared pro-Trump beliefs to the student news site FSUNews. According to a classmate, Ikner was removed from a club on campus due to his views on current events which went “beyond conservatism,” per CNN reporting.
Gallagher is not the only Parkland survivor to be impacted by this shooting.
FSU alumna Brittany Sinitch was a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when the deadly shooting occurred. She experienced Parkland after she had already survived a different shooting at FSU which happened when she was a student there in 2014.
In a post to Instagram, Sinitch detailed her experiences at FSU and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, asking: “How is this still happening? How have we allowed these cycles of harm and tragedy to continue, again and again? When will we say: enough?”
Ilana Badiner, 21, who is set to graduate from FSU soon, found herself hiding from another active shooter on Thursday. She attended a school nearby to MSD which was also placed on lockdown for fears that Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz would enter their school as well.
She told The New York Times: “It was the same situation today, where people were just on the phones calling everybody and there were people crying. It’s terrible that this keeps happening.”
Many Parkland survivors have dedicated their lives to activism.
Sinitch founded The Unbreakable Org, a group that provides support to people whose lives have been changed by “senseless tragedies.”
Several other Parkland students and parents founded March for Our Lives, a gun-control advocacy and policy group.
Notable survivor and alum David Hogg is now the vice-chair of the Democratic National Convention. He got involved in politics and advocacy after seeing his fellow classmates murdered in their classroom.
What People Are Saying
FSU student Josh Gallagher wrote on X: “After living through the MSD shooting in 2018, I never thought it would hit close to home again. Then I’m in the FSU Law Library and hear on alarm: active shooter on campus. No matter your politics, we need to meet—and something has to change. Prayers to the victims and families.”
David Hogg on X: “It is absolutely horrific that this continues to happen time and time again as our politicians continue to only send their thoughts and prayers. We must do more to end this epidemic of gun violence.”
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office: “Look, I’m a big advocate of the Second Amendment, that happened from the beginning. I protected it, and these things are terrible, but the gun doesn’t do the shooting, the people do.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote on X as the shooting was unfolding: “Our prayers are with our FSU family and state law enforcement is actively responding.”
What Happens Next
The Trump administration does not appear open to reforming gun laws. In February, Trump signed an executive order on the Second Amendment directing the attorney general to review reports and documents from the White House Office of Gun Violence Protection.
