Burger King employee shot in face during attempted robbery, drives herself to hospital

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – At 1:15 Tuesday morning, several Burger King employees were leaving the East Jefferson store when a man approached their car, pulled a gun and tried to rob them. Police said they tried to drive off, but the man held on, gun in hand.

“The bad guy falls off at some point. We think about a half a block to a block away from the store, the restaurant,” Fort Wayne Police Department Officer Michael Joyner said.

But before that, the suspect fired his gun, shooting the driver in the face. Somehow she kept going.

“She actually drove herself to a hospital where initially she was thought to be in critical condition,” Officer Joyner said.

Police don’t think this was a random robbery and think the suspect probably was looking for some kind of deposit bag.

Although some people think it’s safer to travel in groups, in situations like this, it’s actually recommended to leave one at a time.

“There’s safety in numbers but in this particular case if one person goes to a car, if you’re riding together, that person makes it safely to the car. Then you’ve got individuals that are watching,” Officer Joyner said. “The person gets in the car that’s driving, pulls up to the business, next person gets in, next person gets in and you go.”

The President of Quality Dining, the owners of this Burger King, sent WISH-TV’s sister station, WANE, a statement saying in part:

We are shocked and saddened to learn that in what appears to have been a totally random event one of our employees was shot early this morning at the end of her shift. Our thoughts and prayers are with our employee and we are grateful that her injuries are not life-threatening.”

The driver, 26 year-old Brianna Waller, is still in serious condition.