A Charleston shooter panic on Thursday ended up being a former dishwasher at a popular restaurant killing the chef there, resulting in a two-hour hostage standoff in the South Carolina city.
Thomas Demetrius Burns, 53, was listed in critical condition at a hospital, the Post and Courier reported, and was accused of shooting Anthony Whiddon, 37, at Virginia's on King restaurant on Thursday afternoon.
Burns was shot when confronted by the Charleston Police SWAT team, authorities told the Post and Courier, which detailed the shooting:
Witnesses reported a man dressed like a kitchen worker entered the restaurant's first floor dining room during lunchtime and ordered everyone into the back. Some customers, though, ran out the side door.
Widdon, the executive chef at the restaurant, was shot early on in the incident and the suspect took one hostage. Authorities were able to corner the suspect on the restaurant's second floor where he was confronted by SWAT officers at 2:30 p.m.
The hostage was released unharmed. The wounded suspect, identified as Burns, was transported to Medical University Hospital.
Mayor John Tecklenburg described Burns as a "disgruntled employee," stressing that the situation was not an act of terrorism or a hate crime.
John Aquino, a representative of the group that owns the restaurant, told CNN affiliate WCSC-TV that Burns was a former dishwasher there.
Charleston was the scene of the mass shooting as Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015 where nine black worshipers were gunned down during Bible study. Dylann Roof, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, is currently on death row for the shooting, NBC News said.
The Post and Courier said Burns had several serious felony convictions.
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