1 customer dead, 1 teen employee wounded as bullets fly at Chili’s in North Carolina
A customer was fatally shot and an employee wounded in a Chili’s restaurant in Rocky Mount on Friday night, police said.
The woman who was shot, 38-year-old Natasha Berry, died at UNC Nash Healthcare, according to a Rocky Mount Police Department news release.
The worker who was shot, a 15-year-old boy, was treated at a hospital and released, police said.
Officers arrested 25-year-old Nytica Battle at her home and charged her with first-degree murder, attempted murder and going armed to the terror of the public. She was in the Nash County jail without bail on Saturday.
Battle ran from the restaurant after the shooting, police said.
The women knew each other and began fighting at the bar, according to police, who said diners ran into the restaurant’s kitchen to hide after hearing gunshots.
At least two shots were fired about 7:10 p.m., Rocky Mount Police Chief Robert Hassell said during an emergency meeting of the Rocky Mount City Council Saturday morning.
The 15-year-old employee hit by a bullet wasn’t the intended target, according to the chief.
The restaurant is on North Wesleyan Boulevard off U.S. 64.
Police urged anyone with information about the incident to call them at 252-972-1411, or Twin County Crime Stoppers at 252-977-1111.
Rocky Mount violence on the rise
Rocky Mount lies along the Tar River east of Interstate 95 in Edgecombe and Nash counties, nearly 60 miles northeast of Raleigh and 225 miles from Charlotte.
Hassell updated the city council Saturday at an emergency meeting about the many steps his department is taking to address a rash of shootings and homicides since January. He detailed at least 14 shootings to the council that have occurred since January. None of them were random, he said.
Of 10 homicides since January, his department has made arrests in eight of the cases, the chief said.
Although the victims and their assailants knew each other, “this reverberates all across the city” and his officers “are truly committed to” resolving each case with arrests, Hassell said.
This story was originally published May 7, 2022 at 8:20 AM with the headline "1 customer dead, 1 teen employee wounded as bullets fly at Chili’s in North Carolina."