A year after a Tennessee man allegedly shot at a McDonald’s employee at a drive-thru window, Tennessee law enforcement has finally arrested the suspect. The white man was accused of also spewing racial epithets and terrorizing the staffers during the altercation.
On Oct. 11, 2021, Charles Connors, 61, became upset after determining his order from the Memphis fast food restaurant, the McDonald’s located at 5263 Poplar near White Station, was wrong.
While unfurling a litany of derogatory words, he pulled out a gun and reportedly shot in the direction of Terrika Means, a worker at the establishment.
Reports stated the man flashed his handgun at two employees and fired a single shot into the window where the employees were working.
The woman that it almost hit said she didn’t see it coming.
Means said, “If I would’ve been over one inch just a centimeter, an inch, a centimeter, that would’ve been the back of my head. I see flashes of it every time.”
Connors fled the scene. Investigators were able to identify him by tracing his electronic footsteps by accessing the credit card he used for his food purchase right before the shooting.
Now charged with two counts of criminal attempt first-degree murder, aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm to commit a felony, the man is in the custody of the Shelby County jail.
Connors was named as the suspect on Christmas Eve. Two months later, officers tracked him down on Tuesday, Feb. 8, in East Memphis, near the McDonald’s.
FOX News notes that the man allegedly admitted that he was at the restaurant on the fall day in question and indeed was the person who recklessly shot inside of the establishment.
Means spoke to the media about the incident and expressed that the incident still impacts her.
She recounted the day, saying that an employee reported the man’s behavior to her.
“She cashed him out and she came and told me, ‘This man just cussed me out,’” Means recalled what was told to her and remembered moving forward to see if she could assist him in his concern.
“I asked him how he was doing,” she stated. “And next thing you know I was like, ‘I was just informed that you just disrespected you know one of my young ladies and she’s just a young lady, she’s just a girl.’ ”
Connors then reportedly paid for his food and started cursing before shouting bigoted remarks. He then asked for a refund and she returned all of his money to his bank card.
Still, he was unhappy with the service. He continued to spit racial slurs in her direction. In response to his behavior, Means shut the drive-thru window on him. “And when I closed the window and took two steps that’s when I felt the fire come across my neck,” she said.
A court date to address his charges is scheduled for Connors on Feb. 16.
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