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A manager from Wendy’s has been taken into custody after allegedly shooting a customer during a conflict over a chicken order.
The suspect, Terrence R. Phillips, faces charges of first-degree felony assault, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon, as confirmed by a press release from the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office in Missouri.
According to court documents, Phillips has entered a plea of not guilty and is currently detained at the Clay County Jail with a bond set at $1 million.
The incident reportedly unfolded on March 20, when a dispute erupted between a customer and Phillips in the drive-through line, leading to the customer being shot, as described in a probable cause statement reviewed by Oxygen.
Speaking from the hospital, the customer told Kansas City police that while he was at the drive-through intercom, an employee requested him to move forward to the pickup window. When he questioned the request, the employee reportedly responded with a rude comment, and the confrontational tone continued as he received his order.
After collecting his food, the customer drove off, authorities noted in the doc, while spilling his beverages. The customer claimed he returned to the drive-through to complain but the employee wouldn’t speak to him. The customer drove around to the side of the restaurant, per the document, where he spotted the employee, who allegedly fired a bullet in his direction, striking him in the car. Police wrote in the doc that after the victim was shot, he drove himself to a residence, where someone called 911.
Surveillance video cited in the probable cause doc allegedly showed Phillips exiting the restaurant, then re-entering with what appears to be a black handgun in his left pocket.
Phillips, who identified himself to police as the store manager, said when it’s late at night, he asks customers to pull forward because the chicken must be freshly cooked, a request with which the customer had an “issue.” When Phillips handed over the order, he told police, the men “exchanged words.”
According to Phillips, while taking another order, the customer pulled up and shouted racial slurs at him. Phillips claimed in the doc that when he exited the store after noticing the hatch of his car was open, the man drove up to him. Phillips said he told the driver to “get the f—on” and left the area.
A single shell casing was found in the parking lot, police wrote in the doc, and a handgun was found in the store’s walk-in freezer. When police checked the serial number of the firearm, they noted it had been stolen from the Norfolk Police Department.
If Phillips is convicted on all charges—and sentenced to the maximum terms— he could potentially spend 60 years in prison. Phillips will next appear in court for a bond review hearing on March 31.
A spokesperson from the public defender’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Oxygen, while a spokesperson from Wendy’s could not be reached.