Florida shooting: Families identify the two deceased victims in FSU killing

Authorities have not released the names of the dead victims, but family members of one victim and a legal team representing the family of the second have confirmed their loved ones' deaths.

Published: April 18, 2025 10:19pm

The two victims who were fatally shot at Florida State University (FSU) on Thursday have been identified by family members as an employee at the school, and a food service vendor executive.

Two people were killed in the mass shooting, and six others were injured, after 20-year-old FSU student, Phoenix Ikner, the son of a Leon County sheriff's deputy, allegedly opened fire with his mother's service weapon. No motive has been released so far.

Authorities have not released the names of the dead victims, but family members of one victim and a legal team representing the family of the second have confirmed their loved ones' deaths.

One of the victims, who worked at the school as the university dining coordinator, was identified as 57-year-old Robert Morales, who had been with the university since 2015, NBC News reported.

“Today we lost my younger Brother, he was one of the victims killed at FSU,” Morales' brother Ricardo Morales Jr. posted online late Thursday. “He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful Wife and Daughter. I’m glad you were in my life.”

Morales previously attended FSU as a student in the early 1990s, where he studied criminology. The brothers are also the sons of the late Cuban exile turned CIA operative Ricardo Morales, known as "the Monkey" in South Florida.

The other victim is 45-year-old Tiru Chabba, who was on the campus while working for the food service vendor Aramark. Chabba, who is from South Carolina, is survived by two children and his wife, according to the Associated Press.

“Tiru Chabba’s family is going through the unimaginable now,” Bakari Sellers, one of the attorneys hired by the family, said in a statement. “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.”

All the wounded victims, who have not been identified so far, are expected to make a full recovery. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage. 

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