Ex-McDonald’s Worker Held in Shooting

A former employee of a Vallejo McDonald’s was booked Saturday on charges that he walked into the fast-food restaurant last week and calmly shot three young women, killing one and wounding two.

Police in the East Bay city said a background check of recent restaurant staff raised suspicions about Jody Tyrone Gordon, 24, of Vallejo, who had worked at the McDonald’s off Interstate 80 until February 1995.

He applied for his old job as recently as a week ago only to be rejected, apparently because the company had discovered he had a prior conviction for armed robbery, police said.

Investigators went to Gordon’s home, where they say they found physical evidence, then took him into custody for questioning Friday.

He was booked early Saturday on suspicion of one count of murder and two counts of attempted homicide and is being held in the Solano County Jail.

“At the time of his job application denial, Gordon gave no indication of the violence to follow,” Vallejo Police Lt. Kevin Kelley said.

Police said Gordon strolled into the restaurant through a side door late Thursday, approached the three victims, all employees, near the front counter and calmly began firing a revolver.

Witnesses said he did not speak during the attack and appeared to be laughing. The lone customer was unharmed.

Melanie Boncato, 17, died Friday. The two survivors, Mercedez Manuel, 21, and Larienel Sapinoso, 17, were hospitalized in stable condition. Manuel was wounded in the head, arm and leg, while Sapinoso suffered a superficial head wound.

Police said there appeared to be no particular reason those three young women were chosen as targets.

The weapon has not been recovered and authorities declined to detail evidence against Gordon.

Times wire services contributed to this report.