RALEIGH, N.C.— Police in North Carolina’s capital city say that a chef who worked at a diner and is suspected of killing a coworker and then shooting himself has died.
It was said that George Colom Jr., 34, was the head chef at Coquette Brasserie. He was in critical condition at a hospital after the shootings inside the restaurant on Friday morning. The police named Colom when they said he had died. Police say that another worker who was hurt on Friday was just a witness. They were treated and sent home from the hospital.
Police say it looked like the killings were caused by a fight. On Sunday, police said, “more information will be made public at the right time.”
The hurt Coquette worker, Jonathan Aguilar Vega, told WRAL-TV that he still had a bullet in his hand after the shooting.
“We were having our daily meeting before the shift started.” Someone from our company brought in a cake for a bartender’s birthday. “A few seconds after she cut the cake, I was shot,” Vega, who the station called Aguilar, said. “No one there had any reason to hate (Colom), dislike him, or have anything personal against him,” he said.
Police say the person who was shot and killed on Friday was 26-year-old Jonathan Mark Schaffer. Schaffer’s LinkedIn page says that he has worked in restaurants for a number of years, most recently for Urban Food Group, which is the parent company of Coquette.
She said of her late boss and friend, “He was just a kind and beautiful soul.”
Colom’s father, George Colom Sr., said in a family statement on Saturday that he thought his son would die soon and felt bad for the people who were shot.
“My son is going to die soon, and we just want a quiet funeral.” “We will not answer any more questions or make any more comments,” the message said.
After the shootings in North Hills, a popular area for shopping and dining in north Raleigh, traffic was greatly slowed down on Friday at noon while police looked into what happened. After the killings, some schools nearby were also locked down.
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