A late-night food run escalated into a stand-your-ground shooting at a McDonald’s when two Florida men caused a “McMess,” according to police.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said a McDonald’s got overwhelmed by orders after several events in the area ended early in the morning of Oct. 12.
‘What do these goober smoochers do?’
Yoan Soto — a 21-year-old employee at the McDonald’s in Davenport, the sheriff’s office said — was working an overnight shift.
Two men — 20-year-old Peter Story and 18-year-old Nicholas Jones — pulled into the drive-thru to order food. However, there was reportedly a long wait.
According to Judd, Soto told Jones and Story, “Hey, sorry guys, but we’re way behind … our online orders are overwhelming us.”
However, the two customers allegedly became furious.
Judd said, “They threatened to attack the man who just told them, ‘We’re busy, we can’t take any more orders,’ and he did that because the manager told him to.”
Sheriff Judd said the two customers threatened Soto with violence.
“We’re going to hang out here,” the pair allegedly told Soto, according to Judd. “When you get off, we are going to beat you up.”
Judd added, “What do these goober smoochers do? They park their vehicle, and they come into the restaurant.”
Sheriff Judd said Soto and the two customers began “jawing” and “having a McArgument in the McDonald’s over McHamburgers, or lack of McHamburgers.”
The 22-year-old McDonald’s manager reportedly told Story and Jones to leave because they were trespassing.
Judd said the two customers threatened to commit a “mass shooting” at the McDonald’s, which allegedly had other customers inside the restaurant.
Surveillance video shows Soto walking out of the back of the restaurant with a gun and pointing it at the unruly customers — and Judd backed Soto’s actions as self-defense.
“And [Soto] comes into the lobby to confront these guys who’ve threatened him and threatened the store and threatened to shoot the place up,” Judd said. “And now he’s trying to get them out of the store.”
Jones and Story are seen swinging their hands in an apparent attempt to take Soto’s gun.
Judd noted that “as they try to grab his gun, [Soto] pulls the trigger, and he shoots Peter Story in the neck.”
Jones then drove Story to a local hospital.
“It’s a blessing that it was a very minor wound,” Judd said.
Judd said Soto retrieved the bullet casing and projectile from the floor and fled the McDonald’s.
Authorities allegedly convinced Soto to return to the scene of the crime, and he cooperated with police.
Soto was charged with tampering with evidence, which is a felony.
Story and Jones were charged with trespass after warning and disorderly conduct.
“Listen folks, it’s never OK to threaten a mass shooting,” Judd stressed. “It’s never OK to threaten to beat people up at a business. And it’s never OK to grab your ammunition and your firearm and run after a shooting.”
Judd again backed Soto’s self-defense attempt: “He has a right to stand his ground and protect himself, and these guys are threatening to do violence after they’ve already threatened on the outside of the store and came inside.”
Judd said of the two customers, “They created a well-founded fear in him and the store manager. It was just a McMess, but we’ll sort it out because we are McGood at investigating McCrime.”
Neither McDonald’s nor the Polk County Sheriff’s Office immediately responded to Blaze News‘ request for comment.
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