General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGeorgia Waffle House worker fatally shoots customer who refused to leave
The girl got into it first with the security guard and they told her she had to leave the property, said witness Ontray Haley to the Journal-Constitution. So she left but the other two guys hung around and they told them they had to leave. The cook refused to serve them because they were getting unruly.
The men threatened the cook, said Haley, then gunfire erupted.
It occurred right at the counter, he said. It was just chaos; I was ducking for cover like everybody else. I looked up and I saw the guy in the floor, dead.
This is the second fatal shooting in an Atlanta-area Waffle House in as many weeks.
Earlier this year, the Republican-dominated Georgia legislature passed the so-called guns everywhere law, which the NRA called the most comprehensive pro-gun reform bill in state history.
Under the new law, licensed gun owners are allowed to carry their weapons to church, restaurants and bars. It will automatically grant military personnel the right to carry firearms off duty, and the law allows citizens to carry weapons into government buildings.
The law does not go into effect, however, until July 1.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/13/georgia-waffle-house-worker-fatally-shoots-customer-who-refused-to-leave/
immoderate
(20,885 posts)--imm
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)bullwinkle428
(20,626 posts)ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)being a 24 hr establishment can mean some pretty nasty drunks among others from time to time.
sP
dballance
(5,756 posts)I'm originally from TN and I never saw an armed guard at a Waffle House when I lived in the South. I went to many, many Waffle Houses late at night/early morning drunk - like so many others. In TN and GA. We called it "Waffle Stomp" for some reason still unknown to me.
This was in the era before Columbine, before Timothy McVeigh, before mass shootings every other week. Sure, I know we were obnoxious drunks at the time. However, we still had at least the tiniest bit of respect for the employees that prevented us from attacking them in any physical way.
Sadly, those days are long over. I can certainly understand why, now, a Waffle House (24/7) would want to have security during the prime hours of unruly drunks showing up. I wouldn't be surprised if the security guard turns out to be an off-duty policeman or sheriff. That's pretty common to hire them for security. They are, after all, trained. I know some wonderful people who are LEO who do this for the extra money. They are sane, normal, and very cautious about using force. They are the rule, not the exception.
I'm very curious as to the details of how the situation escalated to a fatal shooting.
valerief
(53,235 posts)2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)It was no guarantee that someone wouldn't get shot anyway, but there was a time (no, really!) when you'd call law enforcement on an unruly customer. At that point, the patron could either move along quietly or get arrested. Nobody necessarily had to die, and certainly the restaurant staff (who might not be able to handle an order asking to "hold the hollandaise" didn't have to make life-and-death decisions.
Happily those halcyon days have gone the way of the buggy whip, and we can all take our chances that a casual meal out could become The Last Supper.
valerief
(53,235 posts)CanonRay
(14,036 posts)So this is just Spring Training then. Can't wait for the Season to begin...
Schema Thing
(10,283 posts)madinmaryland
(64,920 posts)dballance
(5,756 posts)Seems it now refers to patrons at Waffle House scattering to cover themselves from gunfire.
BootinUp
(46,924 posts)LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)Bosonic
(3,746 posts)SDjack
(1,448 posts)the killing of an occasional POTUS and a lot of school children is not enough to bring gun control legislation. Money has to be taken out of politics.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)I guess he can kiss that tip goodbye.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)just because there are idiots there in some locations. I ate from there at lunch today - scattered covered and smothered with a patty melt. And it was delicious.
Warpy
(110,908 posts)my dad would stop in SC for a snack, a bathroom, and a full tank of gas. Georgia was crossed with doors locked, windows at least halfway up, and no stops. He'd stop across the line in Florida. He also crossed as little of it as possible, right at the coastline.
They didn't even encourage morons with hair trigger tempers to walk around with their binkies, er, guns being waved around all over the place.
I don't know what soured my dad on that state, I just know it was speed trap city and probably still is.