A McDonald’s drive-thru employee in Florida faces felony charges after she allegedly opened fire on a customer’s car during an argument that escalated over an incorrect order, according to authorities.
Chassidy Gardner, 22, of Lakeland, was charged with one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was being held in the Polk County Jail in Lakeland, police said.
No one was hurt in the June 14 shooting, which sent Lakeland police officers scrambling to the restaurant on East Memorial Boulevard around 1 a.m., according to reports.
A disagreement erupted at the drive-thru window when two customers in a vehicle complained because they “felt their order was incorrect,” the Lakeland Police Department said in a Facebook post.
Officers who responded to the scene stated that Gardner argued with the customers and was shown on surveillance footage throwing a drink at the car, which splashed both the driver and passenger.
Enraged, the two customers jumped out of the vehicle, pried open the drive-thru window, and flung their drinks at Gardner.
That’s when Gardner grabbed her gun, police said.
Footage from another security camera outside the restaurant showed Gardner emerging from inside with the gun in hand. There, police allege she fired several times at the car as it peeled out of the parking lot and down the road.
One bullet hit the vehicle, investigators said, but neither man was struck.
“What’s becoming disturbing is us hearing more about these types of stories,” said Orlando Rolon, retired police chief of the Orlando Police Department, according to Fox35. “It’s unfortunate because once you fire that round, that round has no mercy. Wherever that round is going, whatever it strikes, it’s going to damage it or kill it.”
During a moment of levity, Rolon half-jokingly described the incident as a “McMix-up,” but at the same time, he summed up the shooting as no laughing matter.
“It was totally uncalled-for and unjustified for her to pull the gun on a customer through the drive-thru, regardless of what the situation was, unless there was a risk of great bodily harm that was going to be brought on to her, or there is a situation where someone was engaging in some activity that could result in bodily harm,” Rolon said. “I’m shocked that she had a weapon of that sort in a place such as a McDonald’s as an employee.”
The McDonald’s employee handbook on the company’s website makes no mention about weapons. Previous reports indicate that the company adheres to the laws of the state or region where each restaurant is located.
