Fired dishwasher shoots chef; takes hostages in Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C. (TIP):  Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said a hostage situation in a Charleston, South Carolina, restaurant has ended with the gunman being shot by police, says an AP report.

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said the restaurant employee shot by the gunman on Thursday has died. Interim Charleston Police Chief Jerome Taylor says all the hostages at Virginia’s restaurant were rescued safely.

Earlier, an angry employee shot one person and held “a couple” of others hostage at a crowded restaurant during lunchtime in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, authorities said.

“This is not an act of terrorism. This is not a hate crime. It is a disgruntled employee,” Mr. Tecklenburg had said.

The shooting was reported shortly after noon on Thursday.

Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area. Authorities instructed people inside to stay put and those outside to leave the area.

The site is a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.