Sam Hyde – YouTube
- An active shooter was reported at Florida State University, leading to two deaths and six injuries.
- A suspect is in custody, but police have not confirmed if he is the shooter.
- False rumors about comedian Sam Hyde being the shooter spread online.
This story has been updated to include latest information.
There was an active shooter on campus at Florida State University on Thursday morning, April 17, first reported by university’s emergency alert system at about noon.
During a press release with law enforcement with FSU officials, they confirmed two people are dead and six others are injured. They also named the shooter as 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, an FSU student and the son of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy.
At around 3:30 p.m., the university was telling the campus community “law enforcement has neutralized the threat” but warned that multiple buildings were still “active crime scenes.”
The news has spread all over social media as FSU and law enforcement give updates about the shooting. However, some users have used this tragedy to continue an insensitive long-running joke about the alleged shooter.
See the name “Sam Hyde” mentioned in comments and posts? Here’s what to know.
Who is Sam Hyde? What is ‘Million Dollar Extreme’ show on Adult Swim?
Samuel Whitcomb Hyde, 40, is an American comedian who is the co-founder of YouTube sketch comedy group “Million Dollar Extreme.” He has been linked to several public pranks and various alt-right communities, generating controversy for donating $5,000 toward the legal defense fund for the editor of neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, Andrew Anglin.
According to Billboard, he was also the co-writer of Adult Swim’s “Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace.” It was canceled after one season following complaints of racist and sexist themes.
“The show is strictly meant to be a comedy show. It’s not supposed to have a preachy (tone). It’s not supposed to be that at all. We hate that. It’s not supposed to be a political statement that says one thing or another. It’s just supposed to be funny. And it’s provenly funny,” Hyde told the Hollywood Reporter in 2016.
Why do social media users claim Sam Hyde is an active shooter?
According to Rueters, Hyde has been linked to mass shootings as part of a long-running internet hoax.
The two photos shared most often are found on a Wiki fan page about the comedian’s YouTube channel, showing a young man wearing a necktie labeled as “Young Sam Hyde.” Another version of the image also appears and opens a new tab as a screenshot in a Reddit thread described as a high school yearbook photo of Samuel Hyde, according to Reuters.
It is unclear when this trend started or why social media users continue to do this. Hyde’s photos were spread during recent shooting events, including the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, the Las Vegas shooting in 2017 and an attack on a Moscow concert hall.
WARNING: The tweet below is false!
Has the FSU shooter been arrested yet?
Tallahassee Police Department spokesperson Alicia Turner confirmed to the Tallahassee Democrat that they have “a man in custody.”
She could not say if the man in custody was the shooter and had no information about rumors on campus regarding the possibility of multiple shooters
This is a developing news story and will be updated.
Contributing: William Hatfield, Arianna Otero, Jim Rosica, Jeff Burlew, Ana Goñi-Lessan, Alaijah Brown, Tallahassee Democrat
