FSU shooting: Will the suspected gunman's mother face charges?

(NewsNation) — The gunman accused of sidesplitting 2 and injuring six astatine Florida State University allegedly utilized his mother's erstwhile work limb — she's a sheriff's lawman — but ineligible experts accidental it's excessively aboriginal to cognize if she volition look charges.

"I deliberation it's going to beryllium connected what the parent knew, however overmuch she knew, whether oregon not she knew helium was dangerous, wherever precisely that limb was left," erstwhile Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who presided implicit the Parkland High School shooting trial successful 2022, told NewsNation's Leland Vittert connected Thursday.

Police identified the shooter arsenic 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, the lad of Leon County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Ikner.

"Unfortunately, her lad had entree to 1 of her weapons, and that was 1 of the weapons that was recovered astatine the scene," Sheriff Walter McNeil of Leon County said during a property conference.

Though not common, parents of schoolhouse shooters person been charged successful the past, astir notably Jennifer and James Crumbley, whose 15-year-old lad killed 4 students and injured 7 others astatine a Michigan precocious schoolhouse successful 2021.

Scherer said the information that Ikner was an big could marque this lawsuit antithetic arsenic acold arsenic the parents' imaginable liability.

"As a parent, you're liable for your child, and you person a bigger work to instrumentality portion and support the assemblage from your child's behavior," Scherer said.

Legal expert Misty Marris agreed with that point.

"Certainly could beryllium a ineligible contented for the mother, but the happening is you person an adult," Marris told NewsNation's Connell McShane. "We'd beryllium having a mode antithetic speech if you had idiosyncratic who was 15 oregon 16 years old."

Police are inactive successful the aboriginal stages of the probe and person not said however Ikner acquired the weapon.

Watch the interrogation with Elizabeth Scherer successful the subordinate above.