Photo by Maricel Solliven.
By Diannemay Roson
EBC Florida Bureau
CHARLESTON (Eagle News) – It was a gloomy day for dining customers at the Virginia’s On King, a Southern-style Restaurant, in the middle of downtown Charleston, South Carolina, when an unfortunate turn of events happened. A disgruntled employee entered the restaurant in the afternoon on Thursday, shooting and killing an employee. He then began to take hostages inside the restaurant.
The police and SWAT team, placed the surrounding areas on lockdown and businesses close to the vicinity were evacuated.
Charleston’s Mayor, John Tecklenburg, stated that this wasn’t an “act of terrorism,” but merely a “disturbed individual with a history of some mental health challenges.”
The victim of the gunman was Anthony Shane Whiddon, the restaurant’s executive chef.
After three hours of the gunman holding people hostage, he was finally shot down by police and is currently in critical condition.
This is the second shooting since Charleston’s church shooting in 2015.
(Eagle News Service) – With reports from Diannemay Roson and Jay Rosquites