By Gerri Miller
Staff Writer
A man is dead, and customers and employees are traumatized after he shot himself inside a popular downtown Prattville restaurant today at lunch time.
The shooting occurred at Cindy’s Café on Court Street. The man entered the busy restaurant and sat in a booth across from two Prattville police officers, according to Police Chief Mark Thompson.
There are usually numerous uniformed and plain clothed police officers who eat lunch at the downtown café and Tuesday was no exception. There were also numerous officers sitting in a separate dining room which was out of view from the situation.
The man started brandishing a firearm and the officers went into action to protect the customers and restaurant employees. Thompson said that the man “never made any abrupt action toward the patrons of the restaurant.”
None of the officers fired his or her weapons. “I am proud of the officers and the way they responded to the training they have received for this type of situation,” Thompson said. “They took proactive measures to protect the public and there were no injuries to any civilians.”
The name of the deceased is not being released due to the nature of the incident.
Reports have been heard but have not been confirmed that the deceased was the ex-partner of a restaurant employee.
Thompson said he realizes that there may be some patrons or employees who will deal with mental issues because of the incident and that his department is willing to assist anyone who needs counseling.
