McDonald's customers have been warned about a spate of robberies that has seen gunmen targeting those eating at one of the fast food chain's restaurants.
Police are investigating a string of armed thefts over the past few weeks at a branch of McDonald's in the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. The victims were all approached by gun-wielding robbers in masks, who forced them to hand over all of their money, their cell phones, and the food they had just bought, according to local news station NBC Chicago 5.
The incident comes amid a spate of gun crime across the country that has sparked a fierce debate about gun control, left politicians unable to answer how to address the problem, and led to multiple countries issuing warnings to their citizens considering traveling to the U.S. The latest incident in Chicago comes a week after an early-morning shooting on an 'L' train left four dead. The gunmen opened fire in a train car at 5:30 a.m. before fleeing the scene, but a suspect is now in custody.
The recent McDonald's case has seen robbers target diners at the restaurant located at 6336 S. Ashland Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood.
On each occasion, two or more armed suspects—often wearing ski masks—stole from breakfast or dinner customers in the parking lot or inside the restaurant itself before fleeing on foot.
The first robbery took place at 9.00 p.m. on August 10, the second occurred at 8:18 p.m. on September 1, and there was another hold-up the following morning at 8.10 a.m. on September 2. The robbers were described by police as Black males between 16 to 29 years of age.
Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call the Area One Bureau of Detectives at 312-747-8380.
Newsweek has reached out by email to both the Chicago Police Department and McDonald's, seeking further information and comment about the crimes and the investigation.
In Chicago, almost 3,000 people were shot last year, according to The Trace, a nonprofit gun-related news outlet. However, that figure is down compared to the year before, as the number of shootings in Chicago was found to have decreased by roughly 16 percent from 2022.
The Gun Violence Archive, a database that collects information about shootings across the country as a whole, has calculated that 11,761 people have died after being shot so far this year, although that figure also includes accidental deaths. Meanwhile, some 22,660 victims have been injured due to gunshot wounds, and there have been 389 mass shootings in the U.S. so far in 2024, according to the archive's statistics.
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