Latest news with #RicardoMoralesJr.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Victim in FSU shooting was son of notorious Cold War Cuban-American CIA operative
One of the two people killed in Thursday's shootings at Florida State University was the son of Ricardo 'Monkey' Morales, a shadowy Cuban-American CIA operative and anti-Castro militant throughout the 1960s and '70s who died in a bar fight in Miami in 1982. Roberto Morales, 57, was among several university employees who had gathered for a meeting when the shooting began, his brother, Ricardo Morales Jr. said. He worked at the university's department of dining services. 'Today we lost my younger brother, He was one of the victims killed at FSU. He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful Wife and Daughter. I'm glad you were in my Life,' Ricardo Morales Jr. wrote Thursday night in his X account. Roberto Morales was one of two people, neither of whom were FSU students, who were killed. Five others were hospitalized in the shootings, which began shortly before noon. Authorities said the shooter, who is in custody, is the son of a Leon County Schools deputy and had used one of her weapons. Roberto Morales had been deeply affected by his father's death while he was a teenager, his brother said. His father, who had been a central figure in Cold War-era espionage and anti-Castro militancy, was killed in a Key Biscayne bar on December 20, 1982, during a fight. He was 43. Police ruled the incident a justifiable homicide, though his controversial past has long fueled speculation about the true nature of his death. 'Monkey' Morales operated in the shadowy realms of intelligence and counterintelligence for multiple agencies — including the CIA, FBI, DEA, the Israeli Mossad and Venezuela's DISIP. His legacy is marked by covert operations, bombings and alleged ties to drug trafficking. Despite numerous brushes with the law, he was frequently shielded from prosecution, feeding theories about his connections to high-level covert U.S. operations. In the 1960s and '70s, Morales, who took part in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, was one of many Cuban exiles collaborating with the CIA to undermine Fidel Castro's regime. In a 2021 radio interview in Miami, Ricardo Morales Jr. claimed that his father had ties to Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Morales said his father, who served as a sniper instructor in the early 1960s at secret camps where Cuban exiles and others were trained for missions against Cuba, recognized Oswald as one of his former trainees in the hours following Kennedy's assassination in Dallas in 1963.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
All 6 Florida State shooting victims expected to make full recovery, hospital says
April 18 (UPI) -- All six people injured during a mass shooting at Florida State University are expected to make a full recovery, the hospital said Friday. The two people killed Thursday were not students and they haven't been identified by authorities. "They were all very very brave," Dr. Brett Howard, a general surgeon with Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, said about the victims. "There's the moment of shock ... but they were all able to talk to us." Phoenix Ikner, the 20-year-old Florida State student accused of the shooting at the state university in Tallahassee, was wounded during a gunfire exchange with law enforcement and remains hospitalized. Howard, who declined to say whether Iklner was at the hospital, appeared with about a dozen colleagues. The doctor said all of the victims were in surgery or stablized within an hour of their arrival at the trauma center, which is close to the shooting. They were all treated for gunshot wounds to their "extremeties," the chest and the abdomen. Three of the patients were to be discharged Friday and the conditions of the others improved. Dining worker died Family members identified Robert Morales, a long-time university dining worker, as one of the fatalities. The shooting was near the Student Union, where meals are served. "Today we lost my younger brother," Ricardo Morales Jr. posted X on Thursday night. "He was one of the victims killed at FSU. He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful wife and daughter. I'm glad you were in my life." Robert Morales was attending a meeting with other university employees at the time of the shooting, the Miami Herald reported. He was an assistant football coach at Leon High School, where he served "with dedication, integrity, and a true passion for mentoring young athletes," the athletic department said. The victim is the son of Ricardo "Monkey" Morales, a Cuban American CIA operative and anti-Castro militant active during the Cold War. He was killed in a bar fight in Miami in 1982. During a 2021 radio interview in Miami, Ricardo Morales Jr. claimed that his father had ties to Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. There is a growing memorial outside the Student Union, where people fled during the gunfire. Backpacks, glasses and notebooks were abandoned. School in mourning The Student Union and other buildings remain closed as law enforcement processed evidence from the crime scenes. The university canceled classes Thursday and Friday, and activities through the weekened. At 5 p.m., a school-wide vigil is planned at Langford Green, a grassy area on the campus. It is in front of Doak Campbell Stadium near the Unconquered Statue, which represents persistence, pride and glory, according to the school's website. "All of us at Florida State are hurting," FSU President Richard McCullough said in a statement Thursday night. "But we grieve together, and we will heal together." Eleven years ago there was a shooting at Strozier Library in which two people were injured. Those with video, audio or other information related to the incident, can send them to an FBI site. The accused shooter Phoenix Ikner is the stepson of a Leon County Sheriff's Office deputy, Jessica Ikner. The 18-year deputy was a school resource officer and "her service to this community has been exceptional," Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said during a news conference Thursday. "Unfortunately, her son had access to one of her weapons, and that was one of the weapons found at the scene. We are continuing our investigation as to how that weapon was used and what other weapons perhaps he may have had access to," McNeil said. Phoenix Ikner was a member of the 2021-22 Leon County Sheriff's Office Youth Advisory Council as a high school junior. Ikner transferred this spring semester from Tallahassee State College to nearby FSU, where he was a political science major. Ikner was involved in an extracurricular political club a few years ago. Reid Seybold, an FSU student, told CNN he was asked to leave the group. "He had continually made enough people uncomfortable where certain people had stopped coming. That's kind of when we reached the breaking point with Phoenix, and we asked him to leave," Seybold said. Ikner, a registered Republican, attended a rally against Donald Trump on Jan. 17, three days before he became president again. "These people are usually pretty entertaining, usually not for good reasons," Ikner told the student newspaper, FSU News, at the time. "I think it's a little too late, he's [Trump] already going to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and there's not really much you can do unless you outright revolt, and I don't think anyone wants that." In 2020, the suspect changed his name from Christian Gunnar Eriksen. He was a dual U.S.-Norwergian citizen like his biological mother. Ikner was involved in a custody battle. In 2015, he was taken by his biological mother to Norway in violation of a child custody order. Anne-Mari Eriksen was accused of telling his father, Christopher Ikner, that she was taking him to South Florida for spring break. The child was on medication for "several health and mental issues, to include a growth hormone disorder and ADHD," according to the affidavit. He was brought back to the United States with his mother, who was arrested at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in July 2015. She later pleaded no contest to illegally removing a child from Florida. In October 2015, Anne-Mari Eriksen sued the father, stepmother and two other relatives for slander and libel on behalf of herself and her son. "The emotional and psychological harm done to the minor child will be evident for years, and will require counseling, and given the child being the age of 11, will have memory impacted by the behaviors of all the defendants for the false claims done on his mother, and for the parental alienation of the close relationship of the minor child," the lawsuit claimed. A judge dismissed the lawsuit seven months later.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
What we know about the Florida State mass shooting victims
Authorities have yet to release the names of the victims in Thursday's mass shooting at Florida State University, which left two people dead and six others wounded. But family members have identified one of the deceased as Robert Morales, a 57-year-old university employee. His death was announced by his brother, Ricardo Morales Jr., in a post on X on Thursday night. 'Today we lost my younger Brother,' he wrote. 'He was one of the victims killed at FSU. He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful Wife and Daughter.' 'I'm glad you were in my Life," Ricardo Morales Jr. added. 'You deserved better.' According to the Miami Herald, Robert Morales was the son of Ricardo 'Monkey' Morales, a 'shadowy Cuban-American CIA operative and anti-Castro militant throughout the 1960s and '70s who died in a bar fight in Miami in 1982.' Robert Morales worked in the university's dining services department, the paper reported, and was one of several employees who had gathered for a meeting when the shooting began. The other deceased victim has not been identified. Authorities had said neither of those killed was a student or law enforcement. Six people were taken to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare hospital with gunshot wounds. All were in stable condition when they arrived, hospital officials said at a press conference on Friday. Some of the victims received wounds to the face and torso. Three required surgery. Brett Howard, a trauma and general surgeon at the hospital, said two of the injured patients were expected to be discharged Friday. Three others have improved and are in good condition, he said. One remains in fair condition. All are expected to make a full recovery. The hospital did not disclose the names of the patients, nor did it say whether any are students. At the press conference, FSU President Richard McCullough said that he 'wanted to express our gratitude to the health care professionals who took care of our students who were shot and injured." The suspected shooter was identified as Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old FSU student who classmates say had espoused far-right and hateful views. He was shot and taken into custody. Police said Ikner is the stepson of Jessica Ikner, a Leon County sheriff's deputy who has worked with the department for over 18 years. A former service weapon that belonged to her was recovered at the scene.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
What we know about the Florida State mass shooting victims
Authorities have yet to release the names of the victims in Thursday's mass shooting at Florida State University, which left two people dead and six others wounded. But family members have identified one of the deceased as Robert Morales, a 57-year-old university employee. His death was announced by his brother, Ricardo Morales Jr., in a post on X on Thursday night. "Today we lost my younger brother," he wrote. "He was one of the victims killed at FSU. He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful Wife and Daughter.' 'I'm glad you were in my Life," Ricardo Morales Jr. added. 'You deserved better.' According to the Miami Herald, Robert Morales was the son of Ricardo 'Monkey' Morales, a 'shadowy Cuban-American CIA operative and anti-Castro militant throughout the 1960s and '70s who died in a bar fight in Miami in 1982.' Robert Morales worked in the university's dining services department, the paper reported, and was one of several employees who had gathered for a meeting when the shooting began. The other deceased victim has not been identified. Authorities had said neither of those killed was a student or law enforcement. Six people were taken to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare hospital with gunshot wounds. All were in stable condition when they arrived, hospital officials said at a press conference Friday. Some of the victims received wounds to the face and torso. Three required surgery. Brett Howard, a trauma and general surgeon at the hospital, said two of the injured patients were expected to be discharged Friday. Three others have improved and are in good condition, he said. One remains in fair condition. All are expected to make a full recovery. The hospital did not disclose the names of the patients, nor did it say whether any are students. At the press conference, FSU President Richard McCullough said that he 'wanted to express our gratitude to the healthcare professionals who took care of our students who were shot and injured." The suspected shooter was identified as Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old FSU student who classmates say had espoused far-right and hateful views. He was shot and taken into custody. Police said Ikner is the stepson of Jessica Ikner, a Leon County sheriff's deputy who has worked with the department for over 18 years. A former service weapon that belonged to her was recovered at the scene.
CBS News
18-04-2025
- CBS News
What we know about the victims of the FSU mass shooting
Eight people were shot Thursday during a mass shooting at Florida State University 's Student Union, leaving two dead and six others hospitalized, officials said. The suspected shooter, identified as 20-year-old FSU student Phoenix Ikner , was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with responding officers and also remained in the hospital. As of Friday morning, two of the surviving victims are expected to be discharged, while three are listed in good condition and one remains in fair condition, according to a spokesperson for Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. TMH medical staff is set to provide an update on the condition of the victims this Friday at 1 p.m. local time. Authorities have not released the names of any victims. However, family members have identified one of the victims as Robert Morales, a university employee. Among those killed was 57-year-old Robert Morales, a longtime employee in the university's dining services department. His death was confirmed by his brother, Ricardo Morales Jr., in a post on social media Thursday night. "Today we lost my younger brother," he wrote. "He was one of the victims killed at FSU. He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful wife and daughter. I'm glad you were in my life." Ricardo Morales Jr. also confirmed his brother's death to CBS News Miami. According to the Miami Herald , Robert Morales was attending a meeting with other university employees when the shooting erupted. He was also the son of Ricardo "Monkey" Morales, a controversial Cuban American CIA operative and anti-Castro militant active during the Cold War. The elder Morales was killed in a bar fight in Miami in 1982. While the university has yet to officially confirm the victims' names, memorials of candles and flowers have begun to appear across campus, and a vigil is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday at Langford Green.
