McDonald’s employee shoots customer following threats over delayed order; Sheriff calls incident ‘McMess’ — video

A Florida McDonald’s turned into what Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called a “McMess” after a late-night argument over food orders led to a shooting that left a man with a minor neck injury.Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd explained in a video posted to social media that McDonald’s was overwhelmed with online orders following the early release of several events in the area Sunday morning, Fox News reported.Sheriff Judd said the worker, Yoan Soto, 21, “politely” informed Nicholas Jones, 18, and Peter Story, 20, who approached the drive-thru, “‘Hey, sorry guys, we’re really late. Our online orders are overwhelming us.'” After Soto let him know the store was unable to fulfill their order, the two men allegedly began threatening him. Surveillance footage showed Soto pointing a gun at Jones and Story after they entered the McDonald’s and continued to threaten him. “They threatened: ‘We’re going to hang out here’ and ‘When you come down, we’re going to beat you up.’ They threatened to attack the man who had just told them, “We’re busy, we can’t take any more orders,” and he did it because the manager asked him to. They threatened him with violence,” Sheriff Judd said. Soto informed the men that he did not finish his work until 4 a.m. and then returned to duty. “What are these goober smoochers doing?” Judd added, noting that Jones and Story then parked and entered the restaurant. “And they continue to threaten. They have a McArgument in the McDonald’s about McHamburgers or the lack of McHamburgers.” According to Judd, Story or Jones mentioned having a “switch” and a “30-clip,” to which Soto responded that he also owned a gun. The manager intervened to stop the “McRabble”. “They continued to threaten a mass shooting because there were customers present with their guns,” Judd said, adding that Soto retrieved his gun and threatened Jones and Story in the main part of the store. The McDonald’s manager asked Story and Jones to leave for trespassing, but Jones claimed that only law enforcement can declare trespassing, a point Judd clarified as incorrect. As the two men attempted to grab Soto’s gun, he discharged the weapon, shooting Story in the neck. Judd commented, “It’s a blessing that it was a very minor injury, but you know what? When you start shooting at McGuns, you’ll get people’s attention, and they’ll leave you McHave at the restaurant and that’s what they did.” Jones then took Story to the hospital and contacted police. Soto fled the scene but was brought back to the restaurant when officers arrived. He cooperated with authorities and was charged with tampering with evidence. Story and Jones were charged with trespassing after warning and disorderly conduct. “Listen folks, it’s never okay to threaten a mass shooting. It’s never okay to threaten to beat up people in a business. And it’s never okay to take your ammo and your gun and run after a shooting,” Judd said. He said Soto had the right to protect himself, “and these guys are threatening violence after already making threats outside the store and coming inside.” “They created well-founded fear in him and the store manager,” Judd concluded. “It was just a McMess. But we’re going to fix it, because we’re McGood to investigate McCrime.”