Two FSU Shooting Victims Identified as Devoted Fathers — Community Mourns
Two FSU Shooting Victims, Both Fathers, Have Been Identified — Here’s What We Know
Two persons were killed and six others were injured when a shooter opened fire at Florida State University. Fathers with close ties to the campus and neighborhood were both victims.
A shooting occurred at Florida State University in Tallahassee on April 17, 2025. Before the shooter was apprehended, the attack claimed the lives of two men.
Tiru Chabba of Greenville, South Carolina, and Robert Morales of Miami-Dade County have been named as the victims.
Born in South Florida, Morales was a prominent member of the Tallahassee culinary scene. He was a longstanding employee and a graduate of Florida State University.
For almost ten years, he coordinated the university’s cafeteria program.
He has also served as CEO of Black Bean Food Group since 2004, according to his LinkedIn profile. He used to work at Leon High School, which is only a mile from campus, as an assistant football coach.
Morales was a founding member of the popular Tallahassee restaurant Gordos Cuban Cuisine.
He frequently made Cuban food and pastries for university employees, and he once collaborated extensively with cooks to make meals that were safe for a student with very specific dietary requirements.
At a school vigil, Vice President Kyle Clark of Florida State University remarked, “He didn’t just do the job. He lived the job.” Clark also noted, “He made our dining experience feel like home for every student, especially those from South Florida.”
Morales had arranged to meet his lifelong buddy Carlos Cruz and Cruz’s son in the student union on the day of the shooting, as they did every Thursday. But instead, Cruz’s son spent that day in his dorm.
Cruz commended Morales’s love of Cuban food and his ability to turn Gordos into a successful business. Cruz has known Morales and his family for more than 30 years.
“That passion for cuisine and Cuban food was just taken to the next level, because now here he is helping to run a multi, multi, multi million dollar operation and deciding who and what gets into the university,” said Cruz.
His older brother, Ricardo Morales Jr., confirmed the tragedy on X, and celebrity chef Art Smith, who had worked with Morales, called him “a lovely and joyful man. Full of joy and energy, very sweet.” The post featured old pictures of Morales when he was younger.
He added more pictures of his departed sibling in a subsequent post. He leaves behind his wife, Betty Morales, and their daughter, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up by friends and coworkers to help Morales’ familial needs. To date, almost $60,000 has been raised toward the $90,000 target as of April 19.
Tiru Chabba, the second victim, was a 45-year-old father of two children. He was a regional vice president for Aramark Collegiate Hospitality and resided in Greenville, South Carolina.
During his more than 20 years with Aramark, he had a number of positions in operations and finance.
Chabba was on campus as a vendor employee on the day of the incident. one Aramark representative told People magazine, “We are heartbroken to confirm that an Aramark employee was among those killed at FSU yesterday in that senseless act of violence.
We are absolutely shaken by the news.”
Chabba’s family’s lawyers acknowledged his identity and declared their intention to prosecute those guilty for the shooting.
Clark paid respect to both guys as he concluded his remarks at Friday’s vigil. He said, “These two individuals were more than just names. They were deeply loved, and their absences leave a void that cannot be filled.”
The shooting was the 81st mass shooting in the US in 2025 and the sixth in Florida this year. The attack is still being investigated.
Following the horrific campus shooting, which shocked students, focus shifted to the suspect’s close connections to law enforcement and his use of a deputy’s weapon.
Two persons were killed and six others were injured in a shooting at Florida State University (FSU) on Thursday, April 17.
The suspect, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner, a university student, is the son of a Leon County Sheriff’s officer and has a history of association with the department, according to the Miami Herald.
According to the officials, Ikner was not new to the police. Walter McNeil, the sheriff of Leon County, attested to his participation in various law enforcement training courses and his active involvement in the organization’s Youth Advisory Council.
“He has been steep in the Leon County Sheriff’s family, engaged in a number of training programs that we have … so it’s not a surprise to us that he had access to weapons,” McNeil said at the time.
His mother, Jessica Ikner, is well-known in the department and is a deputy assigned to guard a nearby public school.
The suspect allegedly used a firearm that had once belonged to his mother, according to the authorities. It was a firearm that she had lawfully purchased for her own use after serving in the military.
Just after midday, the fighting broke out close to the university’s Student Union. Officers arrived quickly, shot Ikner, took him into custody, and took him to the hospital. According to Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell, he is still in the hospital recovering from severe but non-life-threatening injuries.
Jason Trumbower, the chief of police at FSU, subsequently verified that Ikner was also carrying a shotgun, though investigators do not think it was utilized. “We have not confirmed anyone was shot with a shotgun, but that could change,” Trumbower said.
The attack claimed the lives of two adult men. According to police, a sixth person was hurt while attempting to escape, and five more were hurt by gunshots.
The names of the victims are still under wraps. Later, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare verified that it had received six patients, five of whom were in serious condition and one of whom was in critical condition.
The assault took place in front of the surrounding pupils. McKenzie Heeter, one of them, told CNN that she had just walked out of the Student Union when she saw an orange Hummer parked on a service lane. A man with what looked to be a huge firearm stood next to the car.
Heeter claimed that after firing a shot near her, where other people were also walking, he took a handgun out of the car and turned to face the building.
Heeter remembered, “She was just walking. And he just turned around and shot her,” referring to a woman who was hit in the rear while wearing purple scrubs.
Heeter recounted 20 seconds of nonstop shooting as she rushed almost a mile to her apartment.
She later claimed that despite wearing a frown, the shooter seemed composed and expressionless. “I really just want to find out about the woman in the purple scrubs and if she is OK,” she stated.
Law officers acted quickly to secure the scene as mayhem erupted on campus. As a safety measure, armed officers swept buildings and evacuated students with their hands up, putting the school on lockdown.
The chaos left behind was captured on camera by ABC journalist Forrest Saunders. In the haste to get out, laptops, shoes, backpacks, and partially consumed dinners were left strewn all over the lawn.
At the incident, emergency personnel loaded multiple people into ambulances and administered medical assistance. One video shows a police officer getting a pair of handcuffs and then putting them on a person inside an ambulance who is on a stretcher.
Another video surfaced on X that sparked more fury as the community started to comprehend the shock. The video appeared to capture the event on a phone as a person sipping Starbucks passed a wounded person on the ground.
The person’s name is still unknown, but the video went viral and received harsh criticism on social media. One person wrote, “How do you walk by and not try to help?
” According to a third, “this [sic] heartless person needs to be outed and publicly shamed. #fsustarbucks #fsu.” Another added, “You spelled Americana wrong.”
A member of X commented, “Sending love to FSU. Horrible situation. Just saw a video of some students walking past a wounded person while drinking their Starbucks, taking a video.
Unreal how you can take a video of someone wounded and walk past rather than at least checking if they’re okay.”
Someone more said, “There’s a 6-second video clip purportedly of a person with a Starbuck’s [sic] in hand walking past wounded on the campus of Florida State University. WHERE IS YOUR HUMANITY? These victims need comfort more than you need clicks.”
Not everyone, though, shared the fury. “The video posted is unrelated to the shooting today. As an alum I’m disgusted that people are using this tragedy to sew [sic] division in our country,” stated another participant on X.
Authorities kept trying to put together the shooting’s circumstances while internet debate raged on. They have yet to identify the attack’s motivation as of Friday. The inquiry is still ongoing.
Another school shooting occurred just two days prior, this time at a Dallas high school.
Four persons were injured in the shooting that occurred at Dallas’ Wilmer-Hutchins High School (WHHS) on Tuesday afternoon, April 15. Police arrived just after 1 p.m. to reports of gunshots at the Langdon Road facility.
By 2:20 p.m., authorities verified, according to CBS News Texas. that there was no continuous threat and that the school was safe.
Three of the four victims, according to the Dallas Fire Department, were shot; their wounds are not thought to be life-threatening. The ages of the fourth victim remain unknown, however three of the victims are likewise between the ages of 15 and 18.
They were all transported to local hospitals, such as Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Parkland, and Baylor Scott & White Health.
According to law enforcement authorities, the suspect, who was identified as a student, was still at large at the time of the incident. Authorities had also not disclosed any other identifying information. But since then, more information about the suspect has surfaced.
Tracy Denard Haynes Jr., 17, was recently revealed as the suspect. Around 9 p.m., Haynes Jr. reportedly turned himself in to police at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center. on the evening of Tuesday, April 15. He is currently being held at the Dallas County Jail on four first-degree felony charges of aggravated assault in a mass shooting.
A Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) special agent’s affidavit alleges that Haynes Jr. willfully or carelessly attempted to cause many pupils at WHHS to suffer severe physical harm or pass away.
According to the report, Haynes Jr. used a lethal weapon during the incident, committing “the assault as part of a mass shooting, where Haynes Jr. discharged a firearm to cause serious bodily injury or death, or to attempt to cause serious bodily injury or death, to four or more persons: during the same criminal transaction.”
Texas Penal Code 22.02(b)(4), which deals with aggravated assault in relation to mass shootings, is where the charges are found.
Responders from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Dallas police, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) showed up at the school. Students were evacuated toward Eagle Stadium to be reunited with their family, according to aerial footage.
At the time, there were about 900 students on campus.
Later, Stephanie Elizalde, the superintendent of Dallas ISD, declared that classes will not be held for the rest of the week. She also mentioned that staff and kids would have access to mental health specialists to help them through the healing process.
Investigators are looking into how the gun got on campus in spite of security measures.
The pistol was not brought in during the school’s “regular intake time,” according to Christina Smith, assistant chief of police for the Dallas Independent School District (ISD).
Smith also stressed that “it was not a failure” of the school’s staff, procedures, or detecting equipment.
Tennell Atkins, the mayor of Dallas, gave Working for All Alike (WFAA) a potential explanation, saying, “There was a [sic] outside student who probably opened the door to let someone in.”
According to sources, an arrest affidavit states that an unnamed student allowed Haynes Jr. to enter the school through a “unsecured door” at approximately 1 p.m., proving that Atkins’ proposal was accurate. New CCTV footage also captures the same moment Haynes Jr. started shooting.
A reporter puts the events in context by revealing, “The affidavit says Haynes struck multiple students, adding, he approached one student and appeared to take a point-blank shot.”
Leaders of the state have discussed the shooting in the wake of it. In a statement, Governor Greg Abbott offered the school system and law enforcement his support.
“Our hearts go out to the victims of this senseless act of violence at Wilmer-Hutchins High School,” he stated, promising resources to aid in the suspect’s capture.
Students inside the school spoke out about their experiences while officials provided the public with updates.
When the gunfire rang out, an 18-year-old female student told CBS News Texas that she was in a classroom next to the hallway. “We heard all the gunshots… like seven,” she continued.
Upon being informed that they may leave the classroom, she noticed “a lot of blood on the floor.” Looking back on the incident, she noted that it wasn’t the first time the school had seen a shooting and cited persistent security issues.
Students frequently carry firearms on campus, and some have posted pictures of weapons on school property on social media, she said.
Speaking to ABC News, a different male student claimed that the group was engaged in conversation when the initial gunfire occurred.
The student went on to say, “We were still standing there confused, and then we heard more.” They heard cries and saw kids running, so they went back to the band room to hide.
In an interview with ABC News, a third female student claimed that a classmate had witnessed a gunshot strike their door window.
When the kid said, “That’s when my heart really sunk,” Along with criticizing the lack of enforcement, this student questioned how a firearm could enter the school, saying, “I feel like the security… they weren’t really like doing their job at the moment.”
Aldo, a senior in high school, told WFAA that he knew a student who had been shot and had subsequently assisted him.
In the cafeteria, he claimed, the student had been running after him. “He was basically asking for help. He was like, ‘Hey, I just — something hit me or something,’ and he just said, ‘Take off my boot so I can see it,'” Aldo added.
The pupil had a “big gash or wound on his leg” that Aldo found made it hard for him to move and finally caused him to lose feeling in it.
He explained that the situation called for instinctual response, and that knowing his loved ones are secure has helped him feel more at ease.
The most recent shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School comes when a student shot another student inside a classroom in April 2024 after bringing a weapon onto campus. Fox News reported that the two people were 17 years old and acquainted.
The firearm entered the Dallas ISD campus despite metal detectors being installed. Elizalde claimed that at the time, a teacher’s prompt action stopped additional damage.
“He was able to direct the student away from the campus so that he could take care of, first, the injured student and, second, to make sure that the alleged suspect did not enter into the rest of the school building,” Elizalde stated.
The weapon was recovered, and the suspect was caught close to the stadium. It was anticipated that the injured student would heal.
Parents and children continued to voice worries about security breaches in the wake of that incident.
Tenth grader Angelika Partida claimed that school personnel frequently fail to properly check backpacks.
She imitated the swift motion used by staff to check her own bag as she knelt down to unzip it.
“They just open our backpack like this. They do like this, and they don’t check them all the way through,” she said.
To ascertain how guns were brought in, district authorities said they were examining CCTV footage and school policies.
Elizalde said, “This is absolutely unacceptable and unimaginable, but it is happening across schools in America.
It cannot be the normal response. We must use this tragedy to learn something.” Elizalde acknowledged the system’s shortcomings.
