Man at Waffle House giving out $20 bills for meals killed over petty argument
A man who was trying to be generous wound up the victim of a murder over what was apparently a confrontation that went too far
A generous do-gooder who handed out $20 bills to customers eating at a Florida Waffle House was shot and killed by a man whose girlfriend argued with him because she didn’t get any money from him.
On Sunday, Ezekiel Hicks, 25, was arrested by police in Gainesville and charged with murder for the killing of 41-year-old Craig Brewer, ABC News reports.
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According to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the whole ordeal was caught on surveillance cameras and appears to show Hicks arguing with the Good Samaritan. Witnesses said Brewer argued with the unidentified woman because she didn’t get any of the cash Brewer was passing out. Hicks intervened in the argument and the two men began to brawl.
The suspect then left the Waffle House and returned with a loaded 9mm Glock pistol. The altercation “lasted only a few seconds,” police said, resulting in Hicks shooting Brewer in the head, killing him at the scene.
WARNING: Video contains disturbing images
Officials were already headed to the restaurant after receiving a call that the Waffle House was at maximum capacity, Lt. Brett Rhodenizer, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said. But they didn’t arrive before the fatal incident.
“They feel like they were so close and just far enough away to where they couldn’t change the outcome,” Rhodenizer told ABC News on Monday. “This incident went from a verbal altercation to a homicide in minutes, if not seconds.”
“The speed at which it happened and how quickly it went so bad — for both the victim and the suspect — is really kind of the thing that resonates the most with a lot of the folks that have been a part of the investigation,” he added.
Hicks was still at the Waffle House and arrested on the scene. He confessed to the shooting, according to the sheriff’s office. Police are investigating the motive and whether the victim knew the suspect.
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“The why of this case will persist for days and weeks as we conduct follow-up interviews, but the how is incredibly straightforward,” Rhodenizer said. “Out of all the investigations that I’ve seen, very seldom do you have an incident from start to finish on video that ends in a murder.
“It was literally in the single digits worth of minutes from the time we received the initial call from the Waffle House, saying, ‘Hey, there’s too many people here, we’d like a hand clearing the restaurant,’ to deputies are on the scene, told about a shooting, and we have a suspect in custody and a firearm recovered.”
According to ABC News, Hicks is being held without bail He has been charged with first degree murder and carrying an unlicensed firearm.
