Two employees at an Ankeny McDonald’s were shot after someone in a vehicle fired through the drive-thru window following a dispute over an incorrect order, according to police. A 25-year-old Des Moines man was arrested about an hour later and now faces multiple felony charges, including attempted murder.
Officers were called to the McDonald’s on SE Delaware Avenue around 10:30 p.m. Thursday after multiple 911 callers reported that someone in a vehicle had fired through the drive-thru window, according to KCCI. Police arrived to find the vehicle had already left. A preliminary investigation indicated the suspect fired multiple shots at employees after an order was allegedly filled incorrectly, the outlet reported, citing police.
Two Workers Hurt, One Rushed to Hospital
One employee was shot in the arm and taken to a hospital, where he is expected to survive, the report states. A second employee was grazed by a bullet and evaluated at the scene but was not taken to a hospital. Neither employee knew the suspect, according to the same account.
Investigators said they used restaurant security footage and automated license plate reader technology to identify the vehicle and the suspect, identified as Hassan Mohamed of Des Moines. Police arrested Mohamed about an hour after the shooting. Officers found him about two miles away at WoodSpring Suites and took him into custody without incident, with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office assisting in the arrest.
Charges and Conflicting Reports on Injury Counts
Mohamed faces two counts of attempted murder and two counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, per the station’s report. Accounts differ on the exact willful-injury counts: KCCI reported Mohamed was charged with one count of willful injury causing bodily injury and one count of willful injury causing serious injury, while WHO13 reported two counts of willful injury causing serious injury. WHO13 additionally reported that Mohamed is being held at the Polk County Jail.
Police said the investigation remains ongoing and that there is no ongoing threat to the public, per the same KCCI account.
Not the First Order Dispute to Turn Violent at an Ankeny McDonald's
This is not the first time gunfire has erupted outside an Ankeny McDonald’s following a dispute inside. In October 2015, two men were shot outside a different Ankeny McDonald’s location, with police called to the scene at around 10:30 p.m., according to the Des Moines Register. In that case, officers found the two victims hurt in the parking lot and took them to a hospital. A report from USA Today said comments about pickles reportedly preceded the shooting of the two 18-year-old victims, and Gabriel Joe Coco, 36, of Des Moines, later turned himself in to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and was charged with two felony counts of willful injury.
A similar incident also played out outside Iowa in 2023, when police in San Antonio said a woman fired at least eight gunshots into a McDonald’s drive-through window after complaining about her order, according to KSAT. Employees were working and the business was open at the time, but no one was injured in that case.
