Mass shooting survivor reaches settlement with FSU

A Florida State University student who was shot in the back during the April 17, 2025, mass shooting has entered into a settlement with the university.

Read more Pumpkin spice season is back. Find a taste of fall in Daytona, Flagler

Reese Gourley is to receive $40,000 from the state, according to a Sept. 16 legal notice announcing the settlement of the lawsuit.

The 21-year-old’s attorney provided letters of negligence to FSU, the Leon County’s Sheriff’s Office, Tallahassee State College and Deputy Jessica Ikner, who changed her last name after the shooting, saying Gourley sustained “serious injuries” as a result of the campus shooter and that she intended to sue for money damages.

It is unknown whether lawsuits with LCSO, TSC and the deputy have been settled.

Gourley was a sophomore studying international affairs and public health at the time of the shooting. She’s one of five students who was shot and injured by the accused gunman, Phoenix Ikner, who allegedly used a firearm belonging to his stepmom, a Leon sheriff’s deputy.

“Concerns about this individual were previously raised while he was a student at (Tallahassee State College),” Gourley’s attorney, Carrie Roane, wrote in the letter of intent to sue. “He also received firearm training from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, and obtained the unsecured weapon used during the shooting from his stepmother.”

A request for comment is pending with Roane, but the attorney previously told the Tallahassee Democrat that Gourley, who remains enrolled at FSU, is “immensely grateful” for the “incredible response” to the shooting by campus police, the Tallahassee Police Department, sheriff’s deputies and medical personnel.

“However, we are evaluating various safeguards which could have been utilized, and will hopefully be utilized in the future, to prevent senseless acts of violence on a university campus,” she previously said in a text.

A week after the deadly shooting that killed FSU dining coordinator Robert Morales and an executive with a FSU vendor, Tiru Chabba, Gourley thanked the community for lifting her up in thought and prayer.

Read more Pakistan says 28 killed in airstrikes on three targets in Afghanistan

“To the FSU community and beyond, we are connected, strong, and above all, we are unconquered. Our stories are unique and remain a testament to our resiliency,” she wrote in a April 2025 message released by her Tallahassee attorneys at Fasig | Brooks Law Offices. “I’ll be forever grateful for the police, doctors, nurses, and fellow FSU community members who saved my life after I was shot. They made it possible for me to be here sharing what’s in my heart.”

Gourley is just one of several victims from the shooting seeking relief from the university, LCSO and other entities, such as ChatGPT. FSU quietly settled one negligence claim from the shooting last year and has been named in at least two other notices of possible litigation.

Most recently, Madison Askins filed a negligence lawsuit Aug. 31 in Leon County Circuit Civil Court against the FSU Board of Trustees. The complaint seeks damages in excess of $50,000.

Askins complaint alleges FSU failed to maintain a safe environment, inadequately inspected and secured the area, failed to warn students of dangers and did not provide sufficient security personnel or training. Those failures directly contributed to Askins being shot and suffering permanent injuries, pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses and lost earning capacity.

She was one of the first publicly identified survivors of the shooting after speaking from her hospital bed days later. She told news outlets that she was struck by gunfire while trying to flee and survived by lying still and pretending to be dead as the gunman moved through the area.

This article contains previously reported material. Elena Barrera can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Mass shooting survivor reaches settlement with FSU

Read more Italy’s Salvini calls congress seeking to tighten grip on League party

Reporting by Elena Barrera, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 5:06 AM.