01:31 (GMT+4) A disgruntled employee who fatally shot one person and held another hostage on Thursday at a restaurant in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, was shot by police, the city's mayor said, Reuters reported.
Witnesses said the gunman brandished a pistol and said "There's a new boss in town" as he entered Virginia's On King in the heart of the city's commercial district, while about 15 to 20 people were having lunch. Many of them fled.
The gunman was transported to a local hospital in critical condition and the hostage was rescued, said Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.
"A disgruntled employee came back to his place of employment... with a gun and killed an individual in the restaurant, held another hostage for some time," Tecklenburg told reporters at the scene.
"This was not a terrorist act. This was not a hate crime. This was a tragic case of a disgruntled individual, I think with a history of some mental health challenges, who took his anger into his own hands," he said.
Police had earlier said one shooting victim was transported to a hospital. It was not immediately clear whether that was the person who later died.
22:48 (GMT+4) Authorities say a disgruntled employee shot one person and is holding hostages in a restaurant in an area of Charleston, South Carolina, that is popular with tourists, AP reported.
Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a news conference that the shooting Thursday at Virginia’s in downtown Charleston was not an act of terrorism or racism.
Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis told reporters the shooter was holding “a couple” of hostages. He did not immediately respond to follow-up telephone calls asking whether there were more than two.
Witnesses said a man emerged from the kitchen of the restaurant, told diners there was a new boss in Charleston and ordered them to leave.
Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area and warned people nearby to stay inside buildings or leave.
The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.
Dozens of police officers are rushing to downtown Charleston, South Carolina, after police reported a possible “active shooter situation” near a stretch of restaurants and shops popular with tourists.
The shooting was reported just after noon on King Street, Police spokesman Charles Francis said in a statement. He did not say whether they were any injuries or give any description of a suspect.
Tom and Patsy Plant told The Post and Courier of Charleston they were eating at Virginia’s restaurant and saw a man come out of the kitchen with a gun in his hand who said, “There’s a new boss in town.”
The man looked like “an ordinary grandpa, but he had a crazy look,” the couple said. They were able to escape out a back door.
Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area and warned people nearby to stay inside buildings or leave.
The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.