It’s the kind of story that makes your stomach drop. A normal day, a routine visit, and then—chaos. Tiru Chabba, a 45-year-old executive with Aramark Collegiate Hospitality, was at Florida State University on April 17 when he became one of two people killed in a campus shooting. And now, the more we learn about him, the more heartbreaking it gets.
Chabba wasn’t just a suit in a boardroom. He was a husband. A father of two. A guy who showed up every day with passion for his work and deep love for his family. He’d traveled from his home in Greenville, South Carolina, to FSU as part of his job as a regional VP. What should’ve been a regular workday turned into a nightmare.
The shooter—20-year-old FSU student Phoenix Ikner—opened fire inside the student union. Chabba and Robert Morales, a university dining coordinator, were both killed. Six others were injured before campus police took Ikner down. Authorities say the gun was his stepmom’s, a law enforcement officer. Why it happened? That part’s still unclear. No note. No manifesto. Just silence.
But now, people are trying to piece together who Tiru Chabba was. His family, understandably devastated, hired civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers to help push for answers. Sellers said it best: “They’re living a nightmare where this loving father and devoted husband was stolen from them in an act of senseless and preventable violence.”
Aramark called Chabba’s death a heartbreaking loss, describing him as a respected leader and friend. His coworkers? Equally stunned. The kind of person he was—kind, warm, dedicated—comes through in every story being shared.
It’s moments like this that put everything in perspective. Chabba was doing his job. Nothing out of the ordinary. But now his name is part of a growing list—victims of gun violence who didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.
There’s still a lot we don’t know. What pushed Ikner to do this? Could it have been stopped? The investigation is ongoing, and answers may take time. But for now, one thing is painfully clear: a family is mourning, and a university is reeling.
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