Customer shoots, kills waiter in Paris over ‘slow service’

Policemen stand in front of the eatery where a waiter was shot dead by a customer allegedly angry at having to wait for a sandwich, in the eastern Paris suburb of Noisy-le-Grand on August 17, 2019. Police have opened a murder investigation. PHOTO | TIPHAINE LE LIBOUX | AFP

What you need to know:

  • A witness said the customer lost his temper "as his sandwich wasn't prepared quickly enough".
  • Shocked residents gathered outside the pizza and sandwich eatery.
  • Police told AFP a murder investigation has been opened.

A customer shot and killed a waiter at an eatery on the outskirts of Paris, France, apparently enraged at being made to wait for a sandwich, a source close to the investigation said Saturday.

The waiter's colleagues called police after he was shot in the shoulder with a handgun in the Noisy-le-Grand suburb east of Paris on Friday night, the source said.

Attempts to revive the 28-year-old failed and he died at the scene.

LOST TEMPER

The gunman, who a witness said lost his temper "as his sandwich wasn't prepared quickly enough", fled the scene.

Police told AFP a murder investigation has been opened.

With the shooter still on the run Saturday, shocked residents gathered outside the pizza and sandwich eatery.

"He was killed for a sandwich?" one asked, unbelievingly.

“It is sad," said a 29-year-old woman. "It's a quiet restaurant, without any problems. It just opened a few months ago."

But others said there have been high crime levels in the area, notably drug-dealing and public drunkenness.