Chef kills restaurant employee in North Carolina; shoots himself

A shooting at a restaurant in an upscale shopping center in North Carolina has left one person dead and two others injured, one critically, according to officials and local media. The suspect has been identified as the restaurant’s executive chef.

Officers responded Friday to reports of a shooting in the 4300 block of the Circle at North Hills Street in Raleigh, according to the Raleigh Police Department. The incident occurred inside Coquette, a French restaurant in the North Hills shopping center, WRAL reported.

Raleigh Police confirmed that one adult male was killed, while two other men were injured, one of them critically.

According to WRAL, citing witnesses, the suspect has been identified as George Colom, the executive chef at the restaurant. Witnesses reported that Colom entered the restaurant before 11 a.m., fatally shot employee Jonathan Schaffer, and injured another employee, Jonathan Aguilar, by shooting him in the arm. Colom then shot himself. The shooting reportedly stemmed from a dispute among the involved parties.

“One of our employees brought in a cake to celebrate the bartender’s birthday yesterday, so she was cutting into that and, a few moments later, we got shot at,” Aguilar, the employee shot in the arm, told WRAL.

The Raleigh Police have cleared the area, and roads near the shopping center have been reopened for regular traffic after access restrictions following the incident.