Overview

• Robert Morales, a dining coordinator at Florida State University, was killed in a campus shooting on April 17, 2025, alongside another victim, with five others injured.
• The suspect, Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old FSU student, allegedly used a weapon tied to his stepmother, a sheriff’s deputy, raising questions about how he accessed it.
• Morales, originally from Miami, overcame a decade-long battle with kidney disease, including a transplant in 2021, and continued working despite health challenges.
• The Morales family’s history includes a tumultuous past tied to their father, a Cuban exile and CIA informant, whose 1982 death fractured the family for decades.
• The shooting has reignited discussions on campus safety and gun reform, with Morales’ brother expressing skepticism about meaningful legislative change.