TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – Two food service employees were identified as the people killed when a gunman opened fire on the Florida State University campus Thursday.
“We are heartbroken to confirm that an Aramark employee was among those killed at FSU yesterday in that senseless act of violence,” a spokesperson for the food service provider said in a statement Friday. “We are absolutely shaken by the news and our deepest sympathies are with the family and our entire Aramark community.”
The Aramark employee was identified as Tiru Chabba, a 45-year-old father of two. He was a resident of Greenville, South Carolina, according to his family’s attorney. The campus dining employee was identified by family as Robert Morales, who was originally from Miami-Dade County. He was also a FSU alum.
“You deserved better, Robert. Thank you for being in my life,” a man claiming to be Morales’ older brother wrote in a post on X.
The Morales brothers’ father, Ricardo Morales, was a Cuban exile turned CIA operative in South Florida with the nickname “Monkey.” Ricardo Morales Jr. describes his father’s work as a contract agent for the CIA in the forthcoming book, “Monkey Morales: The True Story of a Mythic Cuban Exile, Assassin, CIA Operative, FBI Informant, Smuggler, and Dad,” which is expected to be published later this year.
“Dubbed ‘The Monkey’ for his disruptive and unpredictable escapades, Morales grabbed headlines for decades as tales of his bombings, arrests, assassination attempts (both those he executed and those he suffered), and testimony constructed a real-life spy adventure unlike anything brought to page or screen,” reads promotional material from publisher Simon & Schuster.
The elder Morales was fatally shot in a bar brawl in 1982 at the age of 43.
A spokesperson for Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare said in a statement that two of the six injured patients are expected to be discharged from the hospital on Friday. Three shooting victims’ conditions are improving, while another remained “in fair condition.”
According to detectives, the accused 20-year-old shooter, identified by police as Phoenix Ikner, was injured by police in a shootout.
