An 11-year-old girl remains hospitalized with a bullet still lodged in her head after a teenage McDonald’s employee allegedly opened fire in the restaurant’s parking lot as he arrived for work.
Dora Belen Rivera was sitting inside her family’s SUV with her father and two younger siblings outside a McDonald’s in Hallandale Beach, Florida, on Saturday, June 27, when gunfire suddenly erupted.
The girl’s mother had gone inside the restaurant to pick up food while Dora waited in the vehicle with her father, Oscar Roman Miron, and her siblings, ages 2 and 5.
Dora was struck in the head. Her father was also wounded in the hip or leg, while the two younger children miraculously escaped injury.
Police said the family was not the intended target.
Authorities identified the suspected gunman as 18-year-old McDonald’s employee Ralph N-Kosi Blue III, who was reportedly walking into the restaurant for his shift when another young man ran toward him during an altercation in the parking lot.
Surveillance footage allegedly showed the other man running toward Blue before ducking behind the Rivera family’s SUV.
Blue then quickly raised a gun and fired, according to an arrest report obtained by NBC Miami.
The bullets instead tore into the vehicle carrying Dora and her family.
Dora and her father were rushed to the hospital. Miron has since been released, but Dora remains hospitalized after undergoing surgery.
Doctors decided they could not safely remove the bullet from her head, according to a GoFundMe created to help the family.
The fundraiser said Dora faces a “long road to recovery” following the horrifying shooting. Her two younger siblings were also left deeply traumatized after witnessing the attack.
The family is now focused on helping Dora recover while also providing emotional support for the younger children.
The fundraiser has collected nearly $3,000.
Investigators said the trouble may have started days before the shooting.
According to the arrest report, several people had come to the McDonald’s looking for Blue two days earlier. Blue was allegedly hiding in the back of the restaurant at the time.
Blue was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.
It remains unclear whether he is still employed by McDonald’s.
Discover more from Next Gen News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.