Shooting at Wendy's near West Palm Beach, Florida


Recommended Posts

Updated

WEST PALM BEACH, FL (AP) -- A gunman in a jacket, tie and baseball cap wordlessly opened fire inside a Wendy's during the lunchtime rush Monday, killing a paramedic who had gone back to fetch the right toy to go with his child's meal and wounding five others. The 60-year-old shooter then committed suicide.

''This was not a robbery. He didn't demand anything,'' said Paul Miller, a Palm Beach County sheriff's spokesman. ''Looks like this was just another random shooting like we've seen around the United States.''

The 42-year-old victim, Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue Lt. Rafael Vazquez, who was not in uniform, had met his wife and child at the restaurant during a break in training down the street, Deputy Fire-Rescue Chief Steve Delai said. The family had gotten their food and walked out, but Vazquez returned because the wrong free toy had been included in the kids' meal, detectives said.

Vazquez's wife, a law enforcement officer in nearby Palm Springs, and child were in the parking lot when he was shot in the back as he stood at the counter.

''Our officer probably didn't even see him,'' Delai said of the gunman, Alburn Edward Blake.

Miller said Blake, a handyman and maintenance worker, had no relation to anyone at the restaurant and had never worked for Wendy's, and authorities had not found any notes.

''We don't know why he picked this location to do this horrible deed,'' he said.

Vazquez had been promoted in January and was attending a course called ''Strategy and Tactics'' before taking his lunch break. Delai said the course teaches officers how to ''manage large-scale incidents like we had today.''

The mayhem unfolded just after noon during the lunch hour rush at the eatery on a major suburban road lined with strip malls, car dealerships and fast food restaurants, about five miles from downtown West Palm Beach. A billboard advertising an upcoming gun show stands just behind the Wendy's.

Blake entered the restaurant and went to a restroom before coming out brandishing a 9 mm handgun, Miller said. About 10 to 15 people were in the restaurant at the time, he said.

Ashley Milton, 28, said she had just opened the door to get lunch when she heard the ''pop pop'' of gunfire and saw people running.

''I really didn't think that's what it was. I thought this can't be happening,'' she said. ''You see your life flash before your eyes.''

Josh Maynard, 30, said he and his 20-year-old brother Jerry hit the floor when Blake opened fire. Jerry Maynard said the shooter held his gun sideways and said nothing.

Three of the survivors were hospitalized and stable, Miller said. They included a 43-year-old man, a 16-year-old girl, and a 65-year-old man and his 62-year-old wife. Two others had minor injuries, including one person who was injured while running away.

''I just saw a lady with a little boy in her arms come running out screaming, 'Somebody's shooting!''' said Sandra Jackson, who had been getting gas across the street. The woman said her husband was still inside, said Jackson, 43, of Palm Springs.

When the shooting stopped, the Maynard brothers ran out of the restaurant. Josh Maynard's blue jeans were torn and his brown leather boots were sliced, damage he said was caused by a bullet that grazed him as he lay on the floor.

''It felt like somebody kicked me in the foot,'' he said.

One customer kicked the pistol away from the gunman after he shot himself, then started first aid on the wounded, Miller said.

Blake owned a maintenance company until 2003, according to public records. A 1996 story in The Palm Beach Post reported that he accidentally ran over an 18-month-old girl with his van, seriously injuring her. The story said he had a young daughter who would now be a teenager.

Neighbors described Blake as a quiet man who kept to himself. Michele Grippe watched police go into Blake's apartment after the shooting to search it.

''The only thing they took out of the house was a bag of pills,'' Grippe said. ''Right now, I'm really, really shocked. ... I'm here with my kids, and it's really scary to think about that. Sometimes we'll keep our door open. My kids play outside.''

Bob Bertini, a Wendy's Inc. spokesman based in Dublin, Ohio, called the shooting ''a senseless tragedy.''

source

Edited by Hum

West Palm Beachis such a nice place in FL, what a shame to see this happen. I was there last year and its really upscale, I wouldn't think this would happen there, but it can happen anywhere.

Another one?

I'm actually scared of going into the US now.

Don't be. The chances of being shot and killed are probably just as great as being killed in an automobile collision.

so bizarre. a wendys? why the hell a wendys?

I imagine it was something as stupid as them getting his order wrong:

"I said Vanilla Frostie Mother****ers!" :laugh:

Another one?

I'm actually scared of going into the US now.

Yeah, it's quite a challenge getting around here in the US - dodging bullets, avoiding knifing, and ordering food in a fast food restaurant are major issues. Fatalities are quite common around here. :rolleyes:

No, no, no and no. It isn't, it wasn't and it won't ever be.

IN Puerto Rico?s capital, San Juan, among the dilapidated colonial-style buildings and cobbled streets, the United States Government is represented in plush Federal Buildings. From here the island is controlled as a ?non-incorporated territory whbelongs to but is not part of the United StateLiving under US lawaw, Puerto Ricans enjoy unrestricted and duty-free trade with the mainlacommon citizenship, currency, postal and other services, fiscal autonomy and freedom from the US federal taxes.

Sorry to say, yes, yes, yes, it is effectively!!

Back on topic: It is sad to hear these things and even worse for the victims of crimes like this!

Edited by Farstrider

as much as i hate using Wikipedia as a reference;

Government Republican three-branch government

- Head of State George W. Bush

- Federal Legislative Branch United States Congress

The statutory laws of the United States not locally inapplicable, ... shall have the same force and effect in Puerto Rico as in the United States.

Hey, what ever you need to tell yourself so you can sleep at night. but you don't have to lie to kick it.

IN Puerto Rico?s capital, San Juan, among the dilapidated colonial-style buildings and cobbled streets, the United States Government is represented in plush Federal Buildings. From here the island is controlled as a ?non-incorporated territory whbelongs to but is not part of the United StateLiving under US lawaw, Puerto Ricans enjoy unrestricted and duty-free trade with the mainlacommon citizenship, currency, postal and other services, fiscal autonomy and freedom from the US federal taxes.

Sorry to say, yes, yes, yes, it is effectively!!

Back on topic: It is sad to hear these things and even worse for the victims of crimes like this!

Its just a colony, and no, it isn't the "US." It never was, it isn't now, and it will never be.

All the US gives us is the citizenship and the postal services.

And no, we don't have freedom from the US federal taxes, fiscal autonomy is a lie, duty-free was officially over last year.

soooooo your head of state is our president. your legislative branch is our congress. so yout subject to all presidential directives and all US laws, right? but its not part of the US?

It is a colony, I've said it a thousand times already. Its property of the US, but its not the US nor in the US.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • I am not a US citizen nor a Trump fan. Respect to both left and right. But I will, for the sake of fun, predict something for my own. There will come a day when the US and China will collide like titans ( over Taiwan or anything else ). Then, on that day, some people in this comment section will realize how good an idea it was to become independent in areas like that. ( Or atleast try )
    • Microsoft Edge gets tons of security features, including AI model that can see your screen by Usama Jawad Microsoft Edge may not be the most popular browser out there, but it does receive quite frequent updates that sometimes bring surprising new features and axe others that are not as popular. Now, Microsoft has detailed some of the new security enhancements that it has introduced in Edge for Business, typically used by commercial customers. Microsoft has emphasized that security features are baked into Edge for Business and offer native integration with security and governance tools like Defender and Purview. Browser sessions are governed by default on managed devices but can also be governed through dedicated work profiles on unmanaged devices. An important aspect in this area is controlling the use of shadow AI. We have talked about this before, but it essentially restricts employees from using unsanctioned AI apps through data loss prevention (DLP) policies, with Edge redirecting them to trusted AI services like Microsoft 365 Copilot. This feature, available as a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) license, ensures that confidential data never exits AI boundaries set by your organization in Purview. Additionally, Microsoft also has strong DLP policies for contractors. Contractors leveraging a Entra ID-joined work profile provisioned by their contracting company on a device managed by their actual employer can be restricted from downloading files locally. In such scenarios, the file is saved on the contracting firm's OneDrive rather than being downloaded locally. Another useful Edge security feature disallows copying and pasting from unmanaged locations and apps. Similarly, DLP policies can be configured at a granular level to restrict screenshots or downloading of files from certain locations. In the same vein, IT admins can block the installation of extensions, hosted apps, themes and scripts, and control if users can install extensions from external locations. They can also enable the installation of specific extensions and allow users to request access to certain extensions, so that they can be managed on a case-by-case basis. Finally, Edge for Business now has an on-device AI model that uses computer vision to see what's on your screen and block potentially malicious content immediately. This does not rely on site reputation, as it simply monitors what is being displayed on your screen, which means that it is effective against malicious content that takes over your screen and employs scareware tactics. Since this is an on-device AI model, it does use your system's resources, so it's enabled by default only on devices with at least 2GB of RAM and four CPU cores. You can find more details in the Microsoft Mechanics video here.
    • Could you come up with a slightly less depressing background for Tux instead of that gray gradient? Doesn't have to be cheerful, just less of a downer...
    • Linux 7.2's first release candidate gets off to a good start by Paul Hill Credit: Larry Ewing It has been a few weeks since the release of Linux 7.1, and in that time, the Linux 7.2 merge window has been open, where developers can submit their features and patches ready for the upcoming release. That window is now shut, and the release candidate phase has begun so that new features can be tested and further fixes applied. According to the founder of Linux, Linus Torvalds, this week’s release candidate looks “reasonably normal”. Although we are super early in the release candidates, this is a good sign as it makes it more likely that an eighth release candidate will not be needed. Torvalds even mentioned that the update’s stats are only larger than they really are because there was another AMD header drop with a third of the patch just being AMD GPU register definitions, which aren’t big changes but make the code contributed look larger overall. In addition to this, he noted that just over half the patch is drivers, even when excluding the AMD register dump. The rest of the changes are spread out over architecture updates, tooling, documentation, and core kernel updates. In the next week, Torvalds says that he will be chilling out, taking the week “mostly off”. Despite this, he will be reading emails and keeping up with things, so if he is slow responding, now you know why. He said he is hoping for a calm week, but we will just have to see if the second release candidate is actually like that. We should expect seven or eight release candidates before Linux 7.2 is released, so expect it around the end of August. If you missed it a few weeks ago, be sure to check out our coverage of Linux 7.1's release.
    • Ridiculous claim that the labor cost difference of $6000 annually would increase cost per phone by $200. The employees produce 3 phones per month or what?
  • Recent Achievements

    • Dedicated
      Zeynel earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • One Month Later
      JKR earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Dedicated
      Asgardi earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Conversation Starter
      jessse3334 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Reacting Well
      JuvenileDelinquent earned a badge
      Reacting Well
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      496
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      248
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      154
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      86
    5. 5
      macoman
      65
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!