A man smashed a truck into a Chick-fil-A after being escorted from the restaurant, revealing the dangers fast-food workers face on the job

Kate Taylor

Oct 9, 2019, 20:46 IST

A man was shot and killed after smashing a truck into a Chick-fil-A location in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Prior to crashing the truck into the Chick-fil-A, the man was reportedly escorted from the location after flipping tables and throwing food.
The incident highlights the violence that fast-food workers face on the job, with 89 restaurant industry workers dying from fatal injuries and another 72,310 suffering injuries on the job in 2017.
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Police shot and killed a man who crashed a truck into a Chick-fil-A location in Nebraska. The incident reveals a dark truth about the dangers fast-food workers face on the job.

On Tuesday, customers and workers fled a Chick-fil-A location in Lincoln, Nebraska, after a truck smashed into the side of the building, police said at a press conference.

According to police, a man was escorted outside after causing a disturbance at Chick-fil-A. Thomas Arias, who was working at the Chick-fil-A at the time, told the Lincoln Journal Star that he heard a commotion, then saw a customer flipping tables, throwing food, and yelling, "It's just a f---ing sandwich."

After being taken from the building, the man got into a 2018 Dodge pickup truck and drove it into the Chick-fil-A building, police said.

The man then continued to cause a "disturbance" and threaten people after exiting his vehicle, as people ran from the location. Police said that the man was armed with a weapon other than a gun, and that he was shot by a uniformed Burlington Northern Santa Fe special agent.

Lincoln police say that officers arrived on the scene and saw the special agent preforming life-saving measures, but that the man died at the scene.

Police said on Tuesday that the investigation into the incident is in its early stages. Chick-fil-A declined to comment further on the "tragic matter," referring Business Insider to police. Lincoln police did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for further comment.

The incident reveals the dangers fast-food workers face on the job

However, the deadly incident highlights the dangers that many fast-food workers face on the job.

29 food industry workers were murdered on the job in 2017, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That represents an increase from the 26 who were killed in 2016, 23 in 2015, and 15 in 2014.

A total of 89 restaurant industry workers died from fatal injuries at work in 2017. Another 72,310 suffered injuries on the job.

"It is a major concern for some people such as that they're constantly evaluating people and judging people and thinking of escape routes and where's the safest place to be," one McDonald's worker told Business Insider in August.

"Not gonna lie, definitely have thought: this guy has a gun and I'm about to die, let me go hide in the freezer," the McDonald's worker continued.

Restaurants face a unique threat of "spillover violence," according to Mike Clumpner, the president of security consulting firm Threat Suppression. In these cases, perpetrators do not specifically target a chain or restaurant. Instead, workers are forced to engage with violence tied to gangs, domestic disputes, and other arguments between individuals or groups.