SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A disgruntled customer fired a gunshot through the window of a Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-thru in Shelbyville on Monday, police said.
Shelbyville Police interviewed several witnesses and employees who said it happened just before noon Monday. The suspect was having trouble communicating with the drive-thru employee and began "verbally abusing" the KFC worker, police told WDRB News. It was after she got her food that she pulled up and fired a handgun into the drive-thru window.
"(The suspect) got frustrated with that situation," said Lynn Emert, who was inside eating during the incident. "I think there were some words that went back and forth."
Emert originally thought the noise was an employee who had dropped a trey. She quickly realized it was a gunshot and became frantic.
"I'm sitting here talking to my buddy, and his back was to the situation, and my first thought was 'Oh my gosh. He could've been shot. He could've died while we were sitting there eating,'" she said.
A spokesperson for the Shelbyville Police Department said the woman, along with a male passenger, sped off right after firing the gun. The woman was driving a white Mercedes.
Police still haven't located the suspect.
KFC released this statement to WDRB News:
“First and foremost we are grateful that no one was injured. We are working with local authorities as they investigate the incident. The restaurant reopened this morning as scheduled.”
Emert said about a dozen customers were inside the restaurant when it happened. She said all of those people and the employees were shaken even after the situation settled.
"A lot of tragic things happen around you every day, but to think you could go have lunch and be killed innocently..." she said.
Police say no one was injured.
A wooden board replaced the shattered drive-thru window after Jonelle Dare allegedly firing a shot through it.
Witnesses are thankful to walk away and know the terrifying situation could've been much worse.
"We were just sitting in the restaurant eating, and either one of us could've been hit," Emert said of she and her friend. "She could've kept shooting. It could've been more than just one shot. It could've been a whole bunch, and there were a lot of people there."
Shelbyville's KFC closed for the rest of the day Monday but reopened Tuesday morning.
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