Police in Charleston, South Carolina found themselves confronted by an active shooter/ hostage situation at the downtown restaurant Virginia’s On King on Thursday afternoon.
According to city mayor John Tecklenburg, a disgruntled employee shot and killed one of his former co-workers shortly after 12:00 p.m. EDT and then proceeded to take hostages inside the restaurant.
The shooter was subsequently wounded by a city of Charleston police officer and is currently in critical condition at a local hospital.
As the drama unfolded in the heart of the historic Holy City, law enforcement officers erected barricades at intersections downtown and dispatched negotiators to try and end the stalemate without further bloodshed. They were unsuccessful … although thankfully none of the individuals taken hostage by the suspect were harmed (nor were any law enforcement officers or first responders).
As police worked to neutralize the threat, officials reassured the public that the situation was neither a terrorist attack nor another manifestation of racially motivated violence.
“This was not an act of terrorism,” Tecklenburg told reporters, according to The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier. “This was not a hate crime. This was a disgruntled employee.”
Multiple witnesses told numerous Lowcountry media outlets that the suspect was an older black male who wore a kitchen apron and was armed with a small revolver.
“There’s a new boss in town,” the suspect allegedly proclaimed upon entering the restaurant, according to two witnesses who escaped the scene.
These folks say the gunman came in through the back, yelled "There's a new boss in town." These folks also escaped unharmed. #chsnews pic.twitter.com/wobAWFF9uB
— Harve Jacobs (@HarveJacobs) August 24, 2017
Other witnesses described the assailant as looking like “an ordinary grandpa, but he had a crazy look … it was very crazy.”
The owner of the restaurant, John Aquino, told local television station WCSC TV-5 (CBS – Charleston) that the suspect was a fired dishwasher who shot a chef at the restaurant.
That confirms information passed along through our network of sources.
“The shooter was fired Monday and threatened the manger and chef when he was fired,” a source familiar with the situation told us. “The chef who was killed has young children.”
Scene still active downtown #Charleston #chsnews @Live5News pic.twitter.com/pEUPHaozQu
— Syd Ryan (@SydneyRyanCHI) August 24, 2017
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