An armed citizen is a “hero” to employees of an Alabama McDonald’s where he shot and killed a gunman who opened fire in the restaurant Saturday night.
According to AL.com, the incident occurred around 10:45 p.m., as the Birmingham restaurant was preparing to close for the night. The doors having already been locked, a manager unlocked one to let a man and his two teenaged sons exit.
At that point, a masked man burst into the restaurant and opened fire. The father who was being let out drew his gun and started shooting at the man.
“I was making two quarter-pounders and heard three shots ring, and then exchange of gunfire two more,” McDonald’s employee Markus Washington told WBRC.
Washington and another employee hightailed it to the freezer to hide.
“All we hear is like different gunfire, so in my mind, I’m imagining everybody is dead. He’s looking for us,” said Washington, who claimed to have heard a total of 15 shots.
In fact, the only person who died was the gunman. The armed father and one of his sons were struck by bullets, but neither received life-threatening injuries.
“Right now it appears the victim made a decision that cost his life and the father made a decision that preserved his and [his] children’s life,” Birmingham police spokesman Sergeant Bryan Shelton told AL.com.
“Things like this are difficult for both families,” he told WTVM. “The gentleman who unfortunately lost his life, the teenage boy who is in the hospital recovering from his injuries and the father who is also recovering from his injuries. It’s not easy being a father and watching your child get injured, get hurt like that. It’s a really heart-wrenching experience.”
Birmingham police, unable to be everywhere at once, arrived after the incident was over. At this time, they do not know whether the shooter was trying to rob the restaurant or kill a specific employee. They do, however, expect that the man who killed the gunman will not be charged with a crime.
The incident demonstrates once again why an armed citizenry is the best defense against violent criminals. If the people in that McDonald’s had been forced to wait for the boys in blue to arrive, many, if not all, of them would probably now be dead. They were fortunate to have a customer with a gun to save them.
Williams, for his part, told WBRC he is “feeling grateful” to the man who may well have saved his life.
“He’s my hero,” he said. “Because I can only imagine how it would’ve went if he wasn’t armed. We might not be here having this interview.”
