Two people were killed and five injured after a gunman opened fire at Florida State University. Credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images
A Florida State University student shot during Thursday’s attack shared the two chilling words she heard the gunman say.
Madison Askins, 23, was walking with a friend near the student union when a bullet struck her from behind.
She told ABC News the bullet entered her buttock.
She dropped to the ground and pretended to be fatally wounded, following advice her parents gave her for active shooter situations.
Survival instincts kicked in, and she stayed still to avoid being shot again.
“I released all the muscles in my body, closed my eyes, and held my breath,” she said.
She took short breaths when needed.
“I know if I was moving, he would’ve shot me again,” she added.
While lying still, Askins heard the shooter reload and mutter, “Keep running,” as students fled.
After the gunman left, she stayed on the ground until an officer arrived to help her.
“I knew I just needed to stay calm,” she said.
“It was over when multiple officers came and told me they got him. I could breathe again.”
Askins faces surgery in the coming days.
The bullet remains lodged in her vertebrae.
Despite the trauma, she remains strong.
“I’m not gonna let it tear me down. No, he doesn’t get that,” she said.
Two people were killed and five others wounded in the attack.
Officers shot the alleged gunman, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner.
Ikner survived and is in the hospital.
Police will charge him once he recovers.
Officials confirmed Ikner, an FSU student, carried both a handgun and a shotgun.
Footage on social media showed him walking across campus with a gun as students ran and victims lay injured.
Another clip showed officers providing aid to a wounded person.
Police said Ikner used a firearm belonging to his stepmother, Deputy Jessica Ikner.
She has served in law enforcement for over 18 years.
“This is a heinous crime,” said Sheriff Walter McNeil.
“We’ll do everything to prosecute and send a message this won’t be tolerated here—or anywhere.”
Authorities have not released a motive.
FSU student Reid Seybold told CNN he knew Ikner from a campus political group.
Seybold said they removed Ikner due to his disturbing behavior.
“He made people uncomfortable. That’s when we asked him to leave,” he said.
Seybold claimed Ikner expressed extreme views beyond conservatism.
“He talked about the ravages of multiculturalism and communism,” he recalled.
The BBC reported that FSU’s student newspaper once quoted Ikner at a protest against Trump’s inauguration.
Those quotes were removed Thursday.
The shooting reignited debate on gun control in the U.S.
During an Oval Office briefing, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his support for the Second Amendment.
“I’m a big advocate of the Second Amendment,” Trump said.
“I protected it.”
“These things are terrible. But the gun doesn’t do the shooting—the people do,” he said.
“I’m just hearing about it now. I know the area, I know the school.”
He said he’d comment further later:
“I’ll have more to say about what happened.”
Trump added:
“This has been going on for a long time.
I ran on the Second Amendment, and I’ll always protect it.”
