Workers Killed over Condiments

Atlanta, GA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A restaurant worker is dead after a customer got upset over the amount of mayonnaise on his sandwich.   

Police in Atlanta reported that two Subway restaurant employees were shot on Sunday. One of the employees was later pronounced dead.   

Police were called to the restaurant in a gas station near Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta after 6:30 p.m. There, they found two employees suffering from gunshot wounds.  

"This was a very tragic situation that did not have to occur," Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said at a press conference Monday. "The suspect came inside the restaurant (to) order a sandwich and there was something wrong with the sandwich that made him so upset that he decided to take out his anger on two of the employees here."  

Police identified the dead woman as Brittany Macon, 26, who worked at the store with her sister, the other victim. The owner of the Subway said the customer was upset about his sandwich.   

"Believe it or not, it was about too much mayonnaise on his sandwich," owner Willie Glenn said.  

Glenn said the customer left the store and started shooting into the store, hitting the two employees. The store manager on duty fired back at the suspect, but was not able to hit him, Glenn said. The injured employee’s 5-year-old son was inside the store when the shooting started.   

"I don't know what the world is coming to especially with our youth. They seem to be so hot headed," he told Fox5Atlanta. "Everybody wants to carry a gun. Everybody wants to scare somebody with a gun. It's scary out here." 

Police arrested Melvin Williams, 36, and charged him with murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was initially denied bond on Monday.  

According to booking information, Williams lived across the street from the Subway.   

The Subway chain expressed its condolences.   

"Our deepest condolences go out to the families and friends of those attacked in what was a senseless act of violence. At this time, our main concern is for the franchisees' team members and guests who were inside the restaurant," the restaurant chain said in a statement.   

The shooting comes on the heels of another murder of a restaurant employee that police say stemmed from a months’ long vendetta over duck sauce.   

On Wednesday, Queens resident Glenn Hirsch, 51, was arrested in the shooting death of Zhiwen Yan, 45, a delivery driver for Great Wall Restaurant in Queens. WorkersCompensation.com previously reported on Yan’s death on April 30.   

Yan was killed after delivering an order on 108th Street, police said. Video of the event showed Yan pulling into 108th Street, and then someone approaching Yan as he drives down the street. In the video, Yan tried to roll backward on the bike to get away, but the suspect shot him.   

According to police, Hirsch allegedly spent moths stalking and harassing Great Wall Restaurant workers, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.   

Officials said, Hirsch’s rage started in November 2021 when he ordered food and asked for extra duck sauce packets. While workers at Great Wall provided him with the extra packets, Hirsch “became irate, nonetheless, and argued with workers at the eatery,” officials said.   

Hirsch then demanded a refund and wanted to return the food, court records show, but workers refused. Hirsch then called the police. When officers arrived, workers explained that they could not take the food back because of COVID-19.   

Hirsch stormed out, but officials said that wasn’t the end of it. On Dec. 16, 2021, allegedly came back to the restaurant and used a knife to damage a restaurant worker’s car. He also allegedly told workers that he had a gun, and threatened workers. The workers confronted him, pulled down his mask, and took pictures of his face and the license plate on his SUV.   

Hirsch returned on Jan. 28, 2022, and pointed a gun at an employee outside shoveling snow, saying “How’s your car? Remember me? I will kill your entire family,” officials said he said.  

Officials said that Hirsch dropped off his wife at work, authorities said, before passing by the Queens Boulevard restaurant seven times. Just before 9:30 p.m., Yan left the restaurant on a scooter. Hirsch allegedly followed Yan as he did his deliveries. Yan drove off and then, when he was at a red light, he spotted Hirsch.   

Yan backed away, but Hirsch fired a single shot to Yan’s chest, killing him.   

Hirsch was indicted by a Queens County grand jury Thursday on murder, stalking and other charges. He faces between 29 and 44 years in prison, if convicted.   

“As alleged, a petty dispute over a take-out order became an obsessive point of contention for the defendant who began to stalk and harass employees at the restaurant for months,” Queens D.A. Katz said in a statement Thursday. “The tragic end result was the murder of a hard-working employee, who left behind a devastated family and a grieving community.” 

More than $400,000 has been raised via four GoFundMe fundraising pages, including one by the restaurant’s owner for security to protect employees from Hirsch and his wife.