MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A victim of the triple shooting at a southeast Shelby County Applebee’s is speaking out after a 19-year-old was arrested in connection with the shooting.
What was supposed to be a routine smoke break for Applebee’s employee Erica Addington quickly turned into a day she will never forget.
“A car pulled next to me, I noticed three males in the car, and one got out and bust the window out and jump in the car,” Addington said.
Watching everything unfold, Addington says she alerted her co-workers about the crime in progress. One of them then told a customer his car was getting broken into and that’s when he took matters into his own hands.
“He confronts them and tell them to stop their vehicle, they don’t stop,” Addington said. “He start shooting at them. They jump out and start shooting back. I jump out the car, jump the wall and ran inside of the building. As we running in the building, me and my co-workers, bullets flying all through building and I got shot in the face.”
Addington is among three people shot during the incident. Thursday, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 19-year-old Charterio Porter in connection to the shooting.
Porter is charged with attempted second degree murder along other charges. Deputies say his getaway vehicle was reported stolen just before the incident.
“People need to find them some damn jobs and instead of trying to take people stuff, because they could have lost their life yesterday,” Addington said. “That man could have killed them people don’t need to be trying to take other people [expletive].”
As the investigation continues into the shooting, Addington doesn’t know if she will ever step foot into the Applebee’s again after nearly losing her life.
“We don’t got no security and it wasn’t a safe environment,” Addington said. “I don’t feel like it’s safe to work there without no security being there. It just ain’t it.”
Applebee’s has been closed for the day and it is unclear when they might reopen. The company says they plan on making resources available for all employees.
