A fatal shooting resulted from a road rage incident at a McDonald’s in Daytona Beach, Florida, on a Sunday evening. The lethal altercation in the parking lot led to the death of one man and left another asserting self-defense. Local law enforcement is scrutinizing the circumstances that led to this fatal incident.
The incident occurred on September 8, 2024, at approximately 8:00 PM. The police were called to the scene after receiving reports of a shooting at the McDonald’s on LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach. The officers arrived to find a chaotic scene in the restaurant’s parking area.
“When officers arrived at the scene, they observed a female actively performing CPR on a male victim who was on the ground in the parking lot with an apparent gunshot wound,” stated the Daytona Beach police. The victim was later identified as 30-year-old Brian Collins. Despite the attempts by a bystander to revive him, Collins was declared dead at the scene.
While the police were evaluating the situation, they were approached by a man who confessed to being the shooter. He stated that the violent confrontation originated from a road rage dispute in the McDonald’s drive-thru line.
The police reports indicate that an argument between Collins and the shooter escalated into a physical altercation in the parking lot, after a disagreement in the drive-thru line.
According to the partially redacted incident report, a man pulled into a parking spot at McDonald’s to let Collins pass. As the man tried to leave the parking spot, Collins abruptly stopped his vehicle, preventing the other man’s car from moving forward.
The report states that Collins exited his vehicle, approached the other man’s car, and punched the driver through the window. Claiming that Collins had a knife, the other man shot Collins once.
“The guy attacked me in the parking lot. I had to defend myself. I had to defend myself,” he told the 911 dispatcher.
The 40-year-old shooter, who remains unidentified by the police, claimed that he acted out of fear for his life during the dispute. This assertion could potentially influence the ongoing investigation, considering Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
Currently, no charges have been filed against the shooter. The Daytona Beach Police Department is meticulously investigating the incident, gathering evidence and witness statements to reconstruct the events leading to Collins’ death.
Collins’ family, consisting of his mother, sister, and girlfriend, are expressing concerns over the lack of charges against the shooter. They believe the shooting was unwarranted, asserting that Collins never brandished the knife he allegedly had in his pocket.
“If the man had simply said ‘Back up, I have a gun,’ Nicolas would have stepped back. That’s all it would have taken,” stated Anna Sweeney, Collins’ mother.
The McDonald’s branch where the incident took place, located about 55 miles northeast of Orlando, was temporarily closed as the investigators collected evidence from the scene. The local community expressed their shock over the violent incident at a usually bustling family-friendly restaurant.
The sudden and untimely loss of Brian Collins, a father of ten children, has left his family in grief. Meanwhile, the community is awaiting more details and possible legal proceedings arising from this fatal encounter.
