Inset: Jahzir Collins (Milwaukee Police Department). Background: The McDonald’s where a shooting occurred in Milwaukee, Wis. (Google Maps).
A Wisconsin man is wanted for the role he played in a shooting at a McDonald’s over a dispute about drinks, Badger State police say.
Jahzir Collins, 18, stands accused of four felony counts of recklessly endangering safety as a party to a crime, one count of reckless use of a firearm as a party to a crime, and two counts of bail jumping.
The underlying incident occurred in mid-June at a McDonald’s on Capitol Drive in Milwaukee, according to law enforcement.
On June 17, the defendant entered the eatery with two other men and two women, surveillance footage shows, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Milwaukee-based ABC affiliate WISN.
In the footage, Collins speaks with an employee about two caramel Frappes, police said. The employee exits the video frame before returning with the drinks in hand and throwing them in the trash. After that, the footage shows the employee telling the group he will not give them their drinks. In turn, Collins appears to get angry and allegedly tells the employee to “come outside,” according to the complaint.
The group of five then makes its way toward the door, the footage allegedly shows. The employee is seen following behind. Then, security camera footage from the parking lot shows Collins and his group standing outside. As the employee is seen coming out the door, Collins looks toward the worker while holding a gun and yells: “Pop ’em, pop ’em, pop his a—,” according to the charging document.
Immediately afterward, a man with Collins pulls out a gun, points it at the door, and fires several rounds, the footage allegedly shows. The torrent of gunfire left the door shattered and led the customers inside to scatter, police said. Ultimately, four people were injured in the shooting – including the employee. Investigators found nine bullet casings in the parking lot, according to the complaint.
Collins and the other men are seen running north on nearby Holton Avenue while the women are seen running south, police said.
During the ensuing investigation, police spoke with the manager of the McDonald’s who said she recognized the three men because they often come to the location to hang out – and sometimes order food, the complaint says. On the night in question, the trio ordered two caramel Frappes from a kiosk, the manager told police.
The manager began making the drinks until the eventually-injured employee told her to stop because one of the men was threatening to shoot the manager in the face, according to the complaint.
The employee also told the manager the three men were harassing a delivery driver picking up a mobile order. So, the manager returned to the front of the restaurant to issue a refund. While she was working on the refund, one man began making threats, police said.
The manager told investigators one of the men repeatedly grabbed a handgun in his waistband and that she heard him say the gun had a “switch” and that he was going to “Swiss cheese” the McDonald’s.
The repeat threats and brandishing of the gun are what prompted the employee to toss the beverages in the garbage and tell the men off, according to the charging document.
On June 22, a detective received an anonymous tip from someone who said they had seen the suspects at a certain location – as well as information on one suspect’s residence, the complaint says. Investigators then obtained surveillance footage purporting to show Collins wearing the same clothes as the night of the shooting.
The Milwaukee Police Department also released images culled from surveillance footage of two wanted individuals.
