FSU employee who coached high school football, food service employee were killed in campus shooting

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A Florida State University food service employee was one of the two people killed Thursday in a mass shooting on campus, their employer confirmed to News4JAX on Friday.

“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 and our deepest sympathies are with the family and our entire Aramark community,” an Aramark spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Tiru Chabba was the regional president for Aramark Collegiate Hospitality, the Associated Press reported.

He was a husband and a father of two.

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

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Aramark provides food services and facilities management to hospitals, universities, school districts, stadiums, and other businesses around the world, according to its website.

According to the school’s website, Aramark manages the dining program at FSU.

Two people were killed and six others were injured in the shooting, officials said in a news conference Thursday evening. Police said the two men who died were not students, but no other victim information was immediately released by law enforcement.

According to NBC 6 South Florida and other media outlets, people close to the family identified the second shooting victim who died as Robert Morales, who was an FSU Dining Coordinator, according to his LinkedIn page.

Leon High School also announced the death of Morales on its website and said Morales was an assistant football coach.

“Coach Morales was a beloved member of our athletic community and served as an assistant coach for Leon Football with dedication, integrity, and true passion for mentoring young athletes,” the statement reads. “The loss of Coach Morales is deeply felt by all of us at Leon High School, especially during this difficult and tragic time.”

Morales is from Miami-Dade County, NBC 6 reported, and according to his LinkedIn page, he has held the job since 2015.

The Miami Herald reported that Morales, 57, was the son of Ricardo “Monkey” Morales, a shadowy Cuban-American CIA operative and anti-Castro militant.

According to a post, purportedly from his older brother, he is survived by a wife and daughter.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday said that in memory of the lives lost in the tragedy and to recognize the bravery shown by the first responders, he directed the flags of the United States and the State of Florida to be flown at half-staff at all local and state buildings, installations, and grounds throughout the State of Florida until sunset on Monday.