Autopsy released for victim in 2025 North Hills restaurant shooting
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jonathan Schaffer was shot at least eight times at a North Hills restaurant last year.
- The shooting occurred Jan. 21, 2025 at Coquette Brasserie shortly before it opened.
- Executive chef George Colom shot Schaffer and another coworker before shooting himself.
The man killed in a shooting at a North Hills restaurant last year was shot at least eight times, according to an autopsy report released to The News & Observer on Wednesday.
Jonathan Mark Schaffer, 26, died in the Jan. 21, 2025, shooting at Coquette Brasserie, a French restaurant, The N&O previously reported.
He was fatally shot by George Colom Jr., the 34-year-old executive chef at Coquette, who shot another coworker before fatally turning the gun on himself. The other injured coworker survived.
Schaffer was shot just before 11 a.m. as the restaurant prepared to open for the day, according to an investigative report by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He was apparently sitting in an unspecified location when Colom opened fire with a .40 caliber handgun, aiming at Schaffer’s back, the report states. The surviving victim in the shooting told WRAL last year the incident occurred during a staff meeting.
Schaffer died 12 minutes later at the scene, according to the report. His autopsy found he’d been shot at least eight times, including two shots into his upper back and lower back that damaged multiple organs and a major artery.
Police have never stated a motive in the shooting, but an investigative report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released last spring indicated Colom and another employee had argued over a woman, The N&O previously reported. Colom also allegedly sent text messages before the shooting describing his plan, according to the report.
At least two different handguns were used in the shooting, investigators reported. Colom had previously been convicted in federal court in New Mexico in 2011 of possessing a stolen firearm and could not legally possess firearms, The N&O previously reported.
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 4:38 PM.
