Officers were called when the customer reportedly displayed a gun at McDonald’s employees who had given him the wrong order.
What started as a McDonald’s drive-thru dispute ended with a 4-year-old firing a gun at police officers at the father’s instruction, authorities in Utah said.
Employees at a McDonald’s in Midvale had called police around 1:30 p.m. Monday to report that a drive-thru customer had become agitated and displayed a gun after they gave him the wrong order, according to a news release from the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake.When officers arrived, they asked the man to get out of the vehicle. He did not comply so they pulled him out.
While the man was being taken into custody, an officer turned toward the car and saw a gun pointing out the back window, the release said. As the officer swiped the gun to the side, a round was fired. When the officer realized how young the person with the gun was, he yelled “kid!” so his colleagues would not return fire.
The release said the police investigation indicates the man who was being taken into custody instructed the child to shoot at the officers. They gave no details about evidence for that allegation.The father, a 27-year-old Salt Lake City man, is in custody facing charges of felony child abuse and threatening with the use of a dangerous weapon, police Sgt. Melody Cutler told CNN.