McDonald’s worker shot in the neck by customer in dispute over cold fries

’I feel like crying. You shot someone over french fries?’

A McDonald’s employee was left battling for his life after he was shot in the neck by a customer during an argument over cold french fries in New York.

Matthew Webb, 23, was working at the fast-food joint on Fulton Street on Monday evening when a woman, in her 40s, said fries served to her were cold.

The customer was reportedly on a video call with her 20-year-old son during the altercation. The son shortly reached the McDonald's outlet and started arguing with the employee.

The dispute escalated and soon turned into an altercation outside the eatery, after which the customer's son shot Mr Webb on the neck with a 9mm handgun, police said.

The employee was rushed to the Brookdale hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.

The suspected gunman, identified as Michael Morgan, was arrested after he fled the scene. Mr Morgan has a record of 12 prior arrests, the New York Daily News quoted unnamed sources as saying.

He was taken into custody for questioning at the 79th Precinct stationhouse and charges against him are pending. The suspect’s mother reportedly told the police that she heard the gunshot but did not see the shooting.

“She must have been in shock because she was giving out all the information about what happened,” a vendor present at the scene of the shooting told the daily. “She admitted that she called her son.”

“I feel like crying. You shot someone over french fries?” a witness told the New York Post.

Another witness said, “The co-workers, they were around [the victim]. They were on their phones, and they were crying.”

Following the shooting, a man took off his shirt and put it on the neck to try to stop the bleeding, according to eyewitnesses.

“He couldn’t talk. He was just shaking. His chest was heaving. He was still breathing when they put him on the stretcher,” one witness added.

According to the employees of the McDonald’s outlet, security was “cut” in June without giving any explanation to the staff.

Earlier in March, a 23-year-old McDonald’s employee was severely injured after being stabbed multiple times with a box cutter in Manhattan.