MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police said they’re still looking for the person or people responsible
for shooting two customers outside an East Memphis restaurant.
Big Bad Breakfast owner and award-winning chef John Currence told WREG he hopes to find the two people and make major changes.
Big Bad Breakfast opened about a year and a half ago on Poplar Avenue.
“Memphis has always been a little bit of a concern for us. I continued to hear stories in the last year about growing problems in the city,” Currence said.
Now, those concerns are hitting home for the Oxford-based chef.
Two shot outside East Memphis restaurant
Currence said two customers had just left his restaurant Tuesday around 2 p.m. when they found someone breaking into their car.
“They hollered at them. Two people got out of the car. The one who got out of the back seat started shooting,” Currence said.
“They had kids at the window and when the shots happened every body ran to the back of the building,” a bystander told us.
Both customers got shot. Currence said now he’s trying to reach them to offer help. And he’s worried.
“Somewhere as safe as Germantown, East Memphis area has been historically, that all the sudden this becomes a reality in the daytime is nauseating,” Currence said.
Currence said that means they’re thinking more about safety: hiring security guards and adding cameras. He said it’s been a shock, but Big Bad Breakfast is not leaving Memphis.
Big Bad Breakfast also has 14 other locations.
“There’s a great soul and culture to this place, part of the reason we wanted to be here. I hope the tide turns,” Currence said.
Police said they don’t have any updates on the investigation.