2 Killed, 1 Wounded at Pennsylvania Restaurant

Police searched Tuesday for a man they say took his restaurant co-workers into the woods to see his gun, then opened fire, killing two and wounding a third.

Police identified the man wanted in the Monday night shootings in suburban Philadelphia as Braheem Nichols, 22. Police found a stolen getaway car early Tuesday near Nichols’ South Philadelphia home, about 20 miles away.

Shooting survivor Brian Crow, 19, told WPVI-TV Channel 6 that Nichols fired one shot in the ground to show off the weapon, then turned it on his friends.

“We never did anything to provoke him. We were good friends with him,” said Crow, adding that he believes “there is no way” the shooting was an accident.

Crow said when Nichols stopped firing, he heard him say, “I’m sorry” and “Don’t tell the police.”

Dist. Atty. Anthony Sarcione said the motive was unclear.

Nichols arrived for his shift Monday at the KFC/Taco Bell restaurant with a semiautomatic pistol beneath his uniform, authorities said. The victims saw the weapon and asked Nichols to show it to them, authorities said.

The shooting began shortly after 9:30, when the men began closing the restaurant, located in the Great Valley Shopping Center, said East Whiteland Township Police Chief Frederick Rosato.

Nichols ran back inside the restaurant after the shooting, threatened a manager with the gun, then took the keys to her car and used it to flee, Rosato said. About a quarter-mile away, the car slid off the road, authorities said.

Officers chased Nichols on foot but lost him, authorities said.

About an hour later, police received a report of a stolen car in the neighborhood. With helicopters in the air, police mounted a search that ended when patrol officers found the car unoccupied in South Philadelphia, authorities said.

The dead were identified as Anthony Anderson, 19, of Collingdale, Pa., and Joseph Runge, 18, of Glenolden, Pa. Crow, also of Glenolden, was shot in the buttocks and was hospitalized in fair condition. His brother, Thomas Crow, 18, escaped injury, despite Nichols’ firing several times at him, authorities said.

Tearful family members and friends of the victims gathered at the closed fried chicken and Tex-Mex restaurant Tuesday afternoon. They declined to speak with reporters.