Police: 2 McDonald's workers shot over dining area closure

Police: 2 McDonald's workers shot over dining area closure

SeattlePI.com

Published

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Two McDonald's employees in Oklahoma City were shot and wounded by a customer who was angry that the restaurant's dining area was closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, police said.

A female suspect was in custody after the Wednesday night shooting, but police have not yet released her name or what charges she may face. The woman entered the lobby of a McDonald's in Oklahoma City and was told the dining room was closed for safety reasons, police said.

The woman "became agitated and fired two to three rounds at employees,” Oklahoma City Police Capt. Ronnie Beck said.

One employee was shot in the shoulder and another employee was shot in the arm, police said. A third employee suffered a head injury during the altercation, police said.

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the employees were expected to make a full recovery.

The shooting comes amid tensions over restrictions because of efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic, as well as how people are responding to ongoing efforts to reopen portions of the United States shut down by the virus.

“What you’re seeing in this situation is really what you’re seeing in a variety of situations across the country, which is this tension about opening and people’s concern about it," he said. "But there’s absolutely no excuse for violence, particularly gun violence, so I’m just happy that our people are going to be OK.”

Tensions have escalated into violence elsewhere in the country.

This week, a woman, her adult son and husband were charged in last week's fatal shooting of a security guard who refused to let her daughter enter a Family Dollar in Flint, Michigan, because she wasn’t wearing a face mask to protect against transmission of the coronavirus.

Full Article