JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A video has been circulating online of a man acting belligerent inside a Tijuana Flats restaurant in the Oceanway neighborhood.
At one point, David Scott, the general manager, warns everyone to run because he thought the man could be armed.
“It was kind of a crazy situation. Kind of flew off the handle for what seemed like no reason,” Scott said. “It was a stressful situation, but I’m not injured. That’s what I’m grateful for.”
During the video, the man appears to becomes more aggressive, at one point throwing a high chair at Scott, then trying to punch and shove him.
UNCUT: Man throws high chair, shoves manager at Jacksonville Tijuana Flats (Editor’s note: Viewer discretion advised)
Following that, the man leaves, and Scott warns everyone in the restaurant to run for the back of the building because, he said, he believed the man could have been retrieving a firearm from his car.
“He threatened multiple times to come back into the restaurant with a gun, made it very clear he either had one on his person or in his vehicle,” Scott said. “Once he was finally out of the restaurant, it looked like he pulled a handgun out of his car, and at that point I told everyone to get to the back of the building.”
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told News4JAX it is aware of this incident and is looking for the man in the video, but didn’t know who he was.
Crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said in situations like this, the most important thing beyond personal safety is to get a precise suspect description when calling 911.
“You always want to try and give as much information as you can to police,” Jefferson said. “Height, weight, clothing description, color of vehicle, make or model and last direction of travel, because they want to get away.”