Guard Shoots, Kills Man at a Burger King

A security guard shot and killed a man at a Pacoima Burger King after an argument escalated over a drive-through order, police said Thursday.

Clifton Chester, 22, pointed a pistol at the security guard before the guard shot him, according to the guard and several witnesses, police said. But others among the dozen witnesses interviewed by police said they did not see a gun in Chester’s hands.

LAPD Lt. George Rock said police found a bullet-sized hole in the restaurant window, which several employees said they believed had been made when someone in Chester’s party fired a gun shortly before the fatal shooting.

No arrests have been made, Rock said. And no weapon, casings or shells were found , he said.

Chester died at Pacifica Hospital, where his brother Jeremiah had taken him after he was shot, police said. Investigators found two guns in the trunk, Rock said, but they were packed up in such a way that police do not believe they were used at the restaurant.

“Although no evidence corroborated that a gun was used to shoot through the window, at the same point that can’t be eliminated,” Rock said.

The guard, who is licensed by the state to carry a firearm, works for a private security firm that the franchise contracted with, according to police and a Burger King spokeswoman.

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Times staff writer Noaki Schwartz contributed to this story.