Getting angry with restaurant service is not uncommon. However, one usually solves these problems by speaking with a manager, not by attacking or murdering the waitstaff. But that is what 25-year-old Roderick Turner did, who began shooting at random employees, murdering one, before being killed by another worker according to a report:
After a man opened fire on employees at a Huntsville IHOP restaurant late Wednesday, one of the workers pulled out his own gun and fatally shot the suspect, authorities said.
Roderick Turner, a 25-year-old IHOP customer, and Roy Brown Sr., a 56-year-old employee, were killed at the restaurant on Memorial Parkway, police said.
The deadly situation started when Turner went to pick up a to-go order before 10 p.m. Police said Turner got into a fight with employees because he was apparently upset about the food service. Turner got a gun and started shooting at employees, killing Brown, police said.
Also injured by Turner’s gunfire was another IHOP employee, who police identified as Brown’s son. Brown’s son pulled a gun of his own and fatally shot Turner, said Lt. Michael Johnson. Police said they aren’t publicly releasing the son’s name. Johnson said the man was still hospitalized earlier on Thursday. Police said he is expected to survive.
“At this time there does not appear to be any arrests that will be made in this case,” Johnson said in a news release, “however it will be turned over to a grand jury for review as is customary in similar circumstances.”
Madison County Chief Trial Attorney Tim Gann said the Huntsville Police Department hasn’t contacted him about the case. When a case is presented to a grand jury, prosecutors show evidence to the jurors, who are asked to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
Johnson said investigators have reviewed evidence and talked to multiple witnesses.
The restaurant at the corner of Memorial Parkway and Drake Avenue is expected to reopen Friday, an IHOP spokeswoman said. It was closed Thursday as police continued investigating.
IHOP spokeswoman Stephanie Peterson said Thursday that the company is focused on taking care of the customers and team members who were at the restaurant during the gunfire.
“This is a heartbreaking situation and our thoughts at this time are with the individuals and the families of those involved,” Peterson said in a statement to AL.com. “The restaurant team is working closely with and assisting authorities to piece together the events that unfolded.”
The windows and doors of the restaurant, at the corner of Drake Avenue, were covered Thursday morning.
Madison County Coroner Tyler Berryhill publicly identified the slain men, whose bodies were taken for autopsy at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences on Thursday.
Three people have died in shootings in Huntsville so far in 2019. (source, source)