A Wendy’s manager in Tennessee is accused of shooting and killing another man after they got into a fight at one of the fast-food chain’s Memphis locations.
Darelle Bowers, 37, was charged with first-degree murder, according to court documents. He is currently being held in Shelby County Jail with no bond.
According to reports, the fight began on Monday when an employee attempted to leave her shift early. The Memphis Police Department said it received a call about a disturbance at the restaurant at 7928 Winchester Road around 5:20 p.m.
According to local NBC affiliate WMC, Bowers made the call.
As officers approached the scene, they received additional reports that a shot had been fired and a person had been injured, according to the outlet. Police arrived and discovered Stephen Shepard in the Wendy’s parking lot with a gunshot wound to his stomach. He was hospitalized and eventually died.
Court documents allege Bowers shot Shepard, with the suspect’s bail screening form claiming he “shot and killed [the] victim while the two were fighting.”
The employee who wanted to leave early called Shepard to pick her up “after Bowers threatened to slap her,” she told police, according to Fox affiliate WHBQ. The two men began fighting shortly after Shepard arrived, and video footage posted on social media captured portions of the violent confrontation.
Shepard can be seen throwing a punch at a man identified as Bowers before Bowers, dressed in the traditional red shirt worn by Wendy’s employees, appears to hold his two clasped hands in front of him shortly before a gunshot is heard. The man in red then walks over the gunshot victim, appearing to slap him in the face. Shepard was reportedly unarmed.
“The person who was shot ended up swinging at the store’s manager, who then pulled out his gun and shot him. “Well, he was already holding his gun,” a witness told WHBQ.
“When he first got shot, he was screaming,” the witness said about the shooting victim. “But after a minute, he just stopped moving.”
Police said the victim and suspect knew each other, according to CBS affiliate WREG. According to reports, Bowers did not resist arrest and admitted to firing a shot.
Bowers is set to appear in court on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Wendy’s of Tennessee told McClatchy News that its restaurants “follow strict safety protocols, including de-escalation training, and we have a zero-tolerance policy for weapons.”
