Gloricia Woody Oklahoma City woman opens gunfire at three McDonald teen workers over the dining area being closed due to the coronavirus.
An Oklahoma woman incensed over a closed McDonald’s dining room area due to the coronavirus pandemic is alleged to have shot three teen employers.
Gloricia Woody, 32, was arrested Wednesday night after the shooting at the fast food outlet located near Southwest 89th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, in Oklahoma City.
Police Captain Larry Withrow during a press conference said Woody entered the restaurant at around 6:22pm and was told by workers the dining area had been closed for safety reasons and was unable to use the area.
Woody was asked to leave but refused, only for a physical altercation to ensue between the suspect and an employee according to an Oklahoma City Police Department Facebook release statement.
‘The suspect was forced out of the restaurant by employees. She re-entered the restaurant with a handgun and fired approximately three rounds in the restaurant,’ Withrow said.
.@OKCPD has identified the suspect as 32 yo Gloricia Woody in the McDonald’s shooting from yesterday at the intersection of SW 89th and Penn. pic.twitter.com/mHeiNmSAZr
— ShardaagrayKOKH (@FOX25Shardaa) May 7, 2020
Injured employee only started working at fast food venue two days ago:
One employee was shot in the arm, one suffered a shrapnel wound in the shoulder area and another employee was struck in the side by shrapnel.
The employee who fought with Woody suffered a head injury during the altercation, police said. The specific nature of the injury was not immediately clear.
Injuries to the four employees were non-life-threatening. Three employees with gunshot wounds were taken to a local hospital, police said.
Two of the employees are 16 years old and the others are 18, Withrow said.
One of the injured employees, Aidan Shatswell, had only just begun working for the McDonald’s outlet two days prior according to a teen male worker’s mother, Brandy Shatswell.
Woody who remained in custody was booked on four counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon following her arrest.
Brandy Shatswell says her son was inside when @OKCPD say Gloricia Woody fired shots inside McDonald’s because a manager asked her to leave. She says her son just started working their two days ago. pic.twitter.com/G24oFzRaBR
— ShardaagrayKOKH (@FOX25Shardaa) May 7, 2020
Oklahoma City McDonald’s shooting one of series of violent incidents as US struggles to adjust to coronavirus
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told ABC’s Good Morning America that the employees were expected to make a full recovery.
‘What you’re seeing in this situation is really what you’re seeing in a variety of situations across the country, which is this tension about opening and people’s concern about it,’ he said. ‘But there’s absolutely no excuse for violence, particularly gun violence, so I’m just happy that our people are going to be OK.’
In a separate statement, McDonald’s said: ‘The safety and security of our employees and customers is our top priority. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved, and the good news is that we can report the employees who sustained injuries are expected to make a full recovery.
‘This is a heinous crime on our restaurant employees who were trying to support public health efforts. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement as they continue to investigate this matter.’
The shooting comes amid tensions over restrictions because of efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how people are responding to ongoing efforts to reopen portions of the United States shut down by the virus.
Tensions have escalated into violence elsewhere in the country.
This week, a woman, her adult son and husband were charged in last week’s fatal shooting of a security guard who refused to let her daughter enter a Family Dollar in Flint, Michigan, because she wasn’t wearing a face mask to protect against transmission of the coronavirus.
