Tiru Chabba; Robert Morales. Photo:
Courtesy of The Strom Law Firm; gofundme
A dining worker and a food services executive have been identified by family as the two victims who died Thursday, April 17 in the mass shooting at Florida State University.
Robert Morales was a dining coordinator at FSU and Tiru Chabba was a regional vice president with Aramark Collegiate Hospitality, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
In a post shared to X on Thursday, Ricardo Morales Jr. identified his younger brother Robert as a fatal victim of the shooting.
“Today we lost my younger Brother, He was one of the victims killed at FSU. He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful Wife and Daughter. I’m glad you were in my Life.”
According to NBC Miami, friends say Morales was one of the founders of a popular Cuban restaurant known as Gordos Cuban Cuisine in Tallahassee.
Morales was also a “beloved” assistant football coach at Leon High School, the school wrote on its website, adding that his loss is “deeply felt” by the school community.
“He was a trusted coach, a respected colleague, and a cherished friend to many,” the school wrote. “The loss of Coach Morales is deeply felt by all of us at Leon High School, especially during this difficult and tragic time.”
The school described him as having a “true passion for mentoring young athletes.”
A GoFundMe campaign was also created by loved ones to help support Robert’s surviving family.
In a press release shared with PEOPLE on Friday, April 18, the Strom Law Firm identified Chabba, a 45-year-old father of two from Greenville, S.C., as the other fatal victim. He worked as an employee of Aramark Collegiate Hospitality, which supplies food to universities.
Aramark confirmed the death of one of its employees early on Friday but did not identify Chabba. However, the law firm confirmed Chabba was an Aramark worker.
Tiru Chabba. Aramark Collegiate Hospitality/LinkedIn
“We are heartbroken to confirm that an Aramark employee was among those killed at FSU yesterday in that senseless act of violence,” an Aramark spokesperson said in a Friday statement to PEOPLE. “We are absolutely shaken by the news and our deepest sympathies are with the family and our entire Aramark community.”
National civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers, who is representing the Chabba family, says they are “going through the unimaginable now.”
“Instead of hiding Easter eggs and visiting with friends and family, they’re living a nightmare where this loving father and devoted husband was stolen from them in an act of senseless and preventable violence,” Sellers says. “We ask you to keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as we fight to ensure they see justice that honors the memories of Mr. Chabba and all the victims of Thursday’s shooting.”
The mass shooting at FSU’s student union building on its Tallahassee campus unfolded around 12 p.m. on Thursday, killing Morales and Chabba, and hospitalizing six others.
Phoenix Ikner. Instagram
Phoenix Ikner, 20, was identified as the suspected shooter. Leon County Sheriff Walter McNeil said at a Thursday press conference that Ikner is the son of a Leon County sheriff’s deputy and the handgun found at the scene belonged to his mother.
“Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons,” the sheriff said.
Ikner was also taken to the hospital after being shot by police.
McNeil said the shooter was “deeply embedded” in the sheriff department’s community and that his mother, a deputy, has been with the department for 18 years.
The school sent out an urgent lockdown alert, telling students to “lock and stay away from all doors and windows and be prepared to take additional protective measures” as the incident unfolded. The school lifted its campus lockdown around 3:20 p.m. local time.
Trumbower said the shooting was reported to campus police at 11:50 a.m. The suspect was soon “neutralized.”
The university planned to hold a vigil in honor of the victims at 5 p.m. on Friday, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
