WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A gunman opened fire inside a Wendy’s during the lunchtime rush Monday, killing a firefighter and wounding five other diners. He then turned the gun on himself.
“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, a Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue lieutenant, had met his wife and child at the restaurant, Deputy Fire-Rescue Chief Steve Delai said. The family had just left, but the man returned to retrieve a toy his child had left behind and was shot in the back, Delai said.
The gunman, Alburn Edward Blake, had no relation to anyone at the restaurant and had never worked for Wendy’s, Miller said.
Three of the survivors were in critical condition, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said. Two others had minor injuries.
