Charleston Hostage Situation Over; Gunman Wounded
Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- The mayor says a hostage situation in a Charleston, South Carolina, restaurant has ended with the gunman being shot by police.
Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said the restaurant employee shot by the gunman Thursday has died.
Interim Charleston Police Chief Jerome Taylor says all the hostages at Virginia's restaurant were rescued safely. He didn't say how many there were.
Tecklenburg says the man who took the hostages is in critical condition.
Authorities did not release the names of the gunman or the man killed.
Taylor says the restaurant on tourist-heavy King Street was packed at lunchtime and his officers helped rescue the wounded man and a number of diners.
An owner of the South Carolina restaurant where the gunman was holding the hostages said he was told the man was a dishwasher who was angry with and shot a male chef.
Witnesses said a man emerged from the kitchen of the restaurant, told diners there was a new boss in Charleston and ordered them to leave.
Tom and Patsy Plant told The Post and Courier of Charleston they were eating at Virginia's restaurant and saw a man come out of the kitchen with a gun in his hand who said, "There's a new boss in town."
The man looked like "an ordinary grandpa, but he had a crazy look," the couple said. They were able to escape out a back door.
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
