Award-Winning Celebrity Chef Shot by Several Gunmen While Returning Home from Dinner

Award-winning chef Tobias Dorzon and his girlfriend are recovering after they were shot multiple times during an armed robbery in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Tuesday.

Dorzon, who played in the NFL for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tennessee Titans before starting his wildly successful culinary career, was returning home from dinner Tuesday night when four armed suspects exited a vehicle and fired multiple rounds at Dorzon and his partner, WTOP reported.

"The suspects then approached the victim and took personal effects from him, and then fled in the same vehicle" driven by a fifth accomplice, per Hyattsville Police Chief Jarod Towers.

Towers called the shooting a "tragic, heinous, violent offense" and vowed to seek justice, according to WTOP.

Dorzon is a well-known and well-liked member of the community as he owns and operates two successful restaurants in Hyattsville, has appeared on several cooking shows, including "Guy Frieri's Tournament of Champions," and was recently named Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Maryland, making the disturbance all the more tragic, County Councilmember Wanika Fisher told WTOP.

"He's had such a huge impact. Tobias has been a catalyst for change. He has really taken University Town Center to the next level," Fisher said. "We were really in this prosperous time, I would say, a revitalizing time for that side of Hyattsville, and I'm very proud of the work we're doing together. But this incident with him in a place that he chooses not only to work, but to live and call home, is just heartbreaking."