Demetri Johnson (courtesy whas11.com)

“Demetri Johnson placed a drive-thru order early Thursday, received his food and pulled away,” Nashville’s whas11.com reports. “He drove back through the drive-thru, complained about a missing cheeseburger. The manager asked him to park and said he would bring out the missing sandwich . . .

Johnson is accused of walking into the restaurant a few minutes later with a pistol, racking it and demanding that staff fix the order, police said. He and the three women with him also wanted fresh fries and new soft drinks. They left after receiving their food.

This incident raises some important questions:

1. The antis’ use rare but highly publicized stories like this to assert that any gun owner could snap and put members of the public in danger. Therefore no one should be allowed to carry a gun. So it’s important to ask, was Mr. Johnson carrying his firearm legally? The pic above looks like a mug shot. So . . . no?

2. Regardless of his legal status, assuming Mr. Johnson didn’t leave a round on the restaurant’s floor, why was he carrying a pistol without one in the pipe? That’s just wrong.

3. Did Mr. Johnson point his gun at anyone? While that open air racking business is a clear case of brandishing, I would hope the McDonald’s customer/perp kept the gun’s muzzle pointed in a safe direction – and his finger off the trigger.

4. How many minutes elapsed between his order and his ballistic complaint? I’m not saying that Mr. Johnson was anything less than irresponsible for introducing a firearm into the discussion about the failed provision of his missing McDouble cheeseburger, but I bet he was cooling his low blood sugar heels for more than a “few” minutes.

What can we learn from this? I’m thinking that the incident teaches us that A) some gun owners are dangerous fellows who risk ruining it for the rest of us, and B) McDonald’s is correct to start taking items off their menu to improve customer service. And, it seems, to protect their staff from irresponsible gun owners like Mr. Johnson. Seeing as the company disarms its workers.

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53 COMMENTS

  1. This guy could of easily of been dropped if a legally armed patron was in the restaurant.

    I bet he was such a good little boy when he grew up.

    • “This guy could of easily of been dropped if a legally armed patron was in the restaurant.”

      Now that is a damn good question.

      TTAG prosecutors and LE, given the story as told, if an armed customer were to negate the threat presented by an aggressive customer who was racking the slide of his gun, would he have a good chance of being no-billed?

      • Always tricky. Personally, it’s that question of whether he will actually shoot. or is just some ghetto trash stuntin’ and flossin’. Yo.

        That he did the action kinda makes him unsuitable for the civilized world, yet dropping him where he stands when he isn’t an actual threat is also problematic.

        Life is very, very grey…

        • Even if one draws a weapon only to intimidate, the nature of that intimidation is the threat to actually use the weapon to harm someone. If we assume that he does not intend to use it, then there is no threat or intimidation, therefore the drawing and brandishing of the weapon (not simply openly carrying in a holster or by sling) has to be construed as an indication that it will be used, and as such justification for defensive action.

        • If the hypothetical shooter was a cop, he’d be justified, but then there would be riots and recriminations…if the hypothetical shooter was NOT a cop, but was of similar ancestry, then that’d probably be okay in the court of public opinion. I don’t see any other scenario working out well for the shooter.

        • He pulled a gun in pubic and menaced with it.

          I do not need to know any more intent in his head. He is illegally displaying deadly force.

          I can legally articulate he is showing deadly intention to the worker based on his actions.

          Legally, as a CHL holder, I can neutralize his threat with deadly force. Any citizen in the room at that moment can use up to and including deadly/lethal force to stop him.

          I suggest you read “Deadly Force” by Mas Ayoob along with your State laws on the matter to understand legal scaling of force up to and including the use of deadly force.

          The law does not require me to “figure out” what he intends to do, nor does it require me to wait until he shoots someone to act and neutralize his threat.

        • I don’t disagree with any of you on the legalities, or addressing a threat. Were this incident to take place in my lovely suburban setting – he’d likely get shot. But that’s not where it’s tricky for me.

          If you’ve ever worked (let alone lived) in an urban environment, ‘society’ functions a bit differently. I’ve had a couple of businesses well inside the STL city limits, and no, not on the north side. As a CCW holder, were I to have drawn and fired every time I saw some thug point a gun at someone, my body count would be higher than Harry Callahan’s. Which might have gotten me shot as well, not to mention making myself a target for no good reason. Inner city thugs point guns at each other all the time over the most ridiculous beefs – you know all the shootings you hear about? Multiply that by ten and you get the number of times they’re pointing at each other or someone else. I’ve seen guys flash each other in a gas station over who was in line first.

          Does one have to judge intent? Nope, the bad guy is legally doing that for you. But just because you can shoot, doesn’t mean you have to, or even should.

        • As a non-LEO, I would never engage in a situation such as this, in fact I would never engage to prevent a robbery of somebody else’s money, particularly somebody who disarms his employees. Make ready, yes. Draw? if I can do so unobtrusively. But shoot? Not unless he does, or points his gun at me or mine. Legally? I’d bet you’d better shoot him in the action of racking the slide, if you wait until he made the demand for better service after he had already paid his money, you’re going to jail.

  2. This was not an irresponsible gun use. This was a criminal gun use by a criminal as#hole.

    In America we are not responsible for the behavior of those around us. Only our own behavior. Unless you believe in the lefts plans to punish all for the wrongdoings of one, that is.

    • sorry jwm NOT ANY MORE now in America no one is responsible for their actions, they are all victims. CLEARLY this guy is a victim of bad customer service, and deserves SPECIAL treatment, and when he does not get his way he throws a tantrum. esp. since he had to get out of his car because the 3 “women” were on his back about the missing rat burger.

    • It was an irresponsible use of a gun.
      A responsible use of a gun would be for self defense or fun on the weekend. Not threatening fast food employees for screwing up your order or blowing your thumb off while ‘cleaning’ a 1911.

  3. First of all let me say that I could probably understand his frustration with some of McD’s “finest”….these are the ones who also want $15 per hour for their stellar service.

    HOWEVER, were I there when he ‘racked’ the slide, I would’ve dropped him like the bag of shit that he is.

    That is all.

  5. “..He and the three women with him…”

    Well he may me irresponsible but seems to be doing fine with the ladies.

    ……..or he’s a pimp. 😉

  6. “So it’s important to ask, was Mr. Johnson carrying his firearm legally? The pic above looks like a mug shot. So . . . no?”

    He looks like a philosopher-king in that picture…you must be a racist! /s

  9. Can’t tell from his picture if he’s just another ugly mofo or a Rhodes Scholar. Either way, we can only pray that the next time he pulls a gun it will go off in his pants and eliminate any means he has of reproducing.

  10. This story is very similar to how I got a promotion one time.

    Fast food restaurant (hamburger)

    Guy orders burger without pickles. Gets pickles. Comes back and they make him another… it has pickles too. Comes back a third time manager mouths off to him.

    He heads home, gets his gun, shoots up the place.

    All the managers and half the staff quit. I say “sure”, and take over the store.

    • One order incorrect is a mistake to be rectified with appropriate mea culpas. Two wrong orders in a row is blatant incompetence. Three, with a mouthy manager? I’ve 86’d mid-cas GMs for less egregious offenses.

      Glad someone who understands “service” took over. The customer didn’t want pickles, why the eff is he getting them more than once in error?

      • I agree. There really was no excuse for the situation happening. And I also agree that it wasn’t a bad thing that most of the staff and all of the managers quit.

        After taking over that store (and having come from stores in much tougher neighborhoods), I NEVER allowed a situation to get that far out of hand.

        In most situations (and I say ‘most’ not ‘all’ so everyone don’t jump on me), situations like that offer several opportunities for either side to de-escalate long before it ever turns into a ‘shots fired’ situation.

        In the situation I originally described, there were 2 major mistakes made by the manager…

        1. recognizing that the customer, having paid for their meal, had every right to expect their order to be correct and well made.

        2. The first time the customer returned, the manager should have watched the replacement order being made to verify that it was correct before handing it out the window (with a little extra thrown in for the inconvenience)

        The s**t isn’t rocket science, it’s burgers and fries.

  11. I feel your pain Dimitri. Only it’s 3 different Burger Kings I left the line after ordering. Just don’t go there anymore. Micky D. has never been that bad. I wouldn’t go to prison for it tho’…

  12. THIS is why i won’t let the wife have a gun. The woman has yet to go to a drive-thru ANYWHERE and not get her order screwed up. I once ordered a bacon-egg-cheese sandwich about 50 miles from my home. Came without the egg. Told my buddy, “They know my wife”.

  13. Don’t this fool know how to handle these egregious errors in da hood? You need to be dialing 911 for this fast food mishap.

      • I never saw that movie and only made it 53 seconds into the clip but as far as I can tell, Mr. Douglas is being a douche-nozzle. Most FF places stop selling b-fast at 1100h, GET THE FUNK OVER IT AND ORDER A FUNKIN’ BUGER YOU AZZHOLE!

        • You should watch the movie. It is pretty good, except for the sad ending. The frustration he feels throughout this movie is something we all deal with. My favorite part was when he used a rocket launcher to destroy a never ending road construction project. We have a joke in Atlanta; the GA State flower is the orange construction cone.
          The deal with the breakfast was that they had several premade breakfasts on the warmer that they are just going to throw in the trash. I understand that the register is programmed to start selling lunch at a given time but damn man just give him the breakfast but charge him for a happy meal.

        • I left FF when I was 18, but the reality is that taking care of your guest is all that matters. If they’re 3 minutes past some arbitrary deadline? You figure out a way to make it work, that dollar it costs is worth $50 in advertising.

          And you damn sure make that product look at least as good as it does in the advo. It’s called good business…

      • Just a few comments, #1 while the movie shows poor trigger discipline it actually shows consequences for once! Yay object lesson! #2. If it’s three past breakfast time when he looks at his watch how did that guy already have a burger? #3 Is that a real FA tec or is the rubber band some sort of shoestring like bump fire setup?

  15. I carry to protect me and mine. Wouldn’t you just leave as quickly as you could or would you be a “sheepdog” a la Nutnfancy?

  16. I would not have fired. but would if: 1. He fired, say into the ceiling or toward the staff.
    2. He started beating/attacking the staff.
    Otherwise, I’d find the exit or cover and be a good witness.

  17. I get asked all the time, “Why bother carrying if you don’t have in the chamber?” My reply is usually, “Where’s your gun?” because I often am asked this by idiots with no firearm on their person. I can rack a round much faster than you can go to your truck & get your gun. And anyone wise enough to actually be carrying while I have an “unloaded” gun usually understands that it’s my choice to carry that way.

      • Maybe Dimitri had a Hi Point. I would be nervous about chambering a round and carrying a Hi Point or any number of cheap pistols(had a raven and a jennings before) stuffed in my pants. Too close to the boy bits for comfort.

  18. A) some gun owners are dangerous fellows who risk ruining it for the rest of us

    I know that there was some tongue-in-cheek there but, sweet baby jeebus, not the “ruin it for the rest of us” line, RF. No… Just no.

    Instead, how about:

    A) some people are reckless

  19. So he got scooped up for armed robbery, right? Because that is armed robbery when you walk in to a store, brandish a weapon, and demand things. The women with him are accomplices because they also made demands.
    Arrest em all.

  20. RF, I’ll not attempt to tell you how to run your blog, but IMHO instances of willfully criminal (mis)use of guns belong in a different category from IGOTD.

    Idiot Criminal Gun Use Of The Day, perhaps?

  21. LIberia is down more than 4100 due to ebola. Came we export some of thugs with their dumbass names? With their overpriced world class gov’t skhul edumacation and street level entrepreneurial experience I’m sure would great all concerned. Can even keep the Obuma phone.

  22. McDonald’s food is proven to be deadly. He could have claimed self-defense, except he “moved toward the danger.”

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