In the wake of several shootings at fast-food restaurants around the country, another incident has been reported — a North Carolina McDonald’s customer is dead after being shot by an employee.
Police in Hendersonville, North Carolina, confirmed the death of 30-year-old Jacklyn Marie Reed, who reportedly was in an altercation with an unidentified woman before the two women brought the conflict inside the McDonald’s just before 11 a.m. on Monday.
Reed was asked to leave by the manager and did — before returning minutes later. That’s when 35-year-old employee Sam Antwan Ivey pulled out a concealed weapon and shot her.
“There is no dispute. We know exactly what happened,” Hendersonville Police Chief Blair Myhand told local outlet WYFF. “This was a matter-of-fact shooting. Based on what we see in the surveillance video, this was a far overreaction to the situation that was happening.”
Ivey was apprehended nearby at Edneyville Elementary School later that day when a resource deputy member recognized him as he picked up a relative from school.
Reed, who was from Johnson City, Tennessee, had been in town less than a week. Myhand said police had received multiple calls about her “erratic and alarming behavior” that weekend.
Authorities are calling the crime “completely senseless.” Ivey has been charged with second-degree murder and possession of a firearm. He is being held without bond.
The Hendersonville McDonald’s owner and operator Teresa Edwards told Entrepreneur that Ivey was “in direct violation” of McDonald’s rules of conduct policy that prohibits firearms on company property, noting that all employees must go through conflict-management training while onboarding with the company.
“My entire restaurant team remains in shock after today’s tragic events, and our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this difficult time,” Edwards told Entrepreneur. “We are concentrating on ensuring our people receive the support they need, and are making crisis counselors available to all employees. We continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement in their investigation and encourage the community to direct any questions to the Hendersonville Police Department.”
Related: Taco Bell Customer Opens Fire Over Incorrect Change, Employee Sustains ‘Life-Threatening’ Injuries
Earlier this month, a customer shot a North Carolina Taco Bell employee after reportedly not receiving the correct amount of change.
The unnamed employee sustained “life-threatening” injuries.
In September, a Florida family filed a lawsuit against fast-food chain Jack-in-the-Box for negligence over an incident in 2021 when an employee shot a man in the drive-thru line over an argument allegedly about curly fries.
It is unclear how long Ivey was employed at the Hendersonville McDonald’s.
