Las Vegas police: Ex-Popeye’s employee shot into store after he was fired

By C.C. McCandless

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    LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KVVU) — A former Popeye’s employee is in custody after he reportedly walked off the job, only to return and fire a gunshot into the drive-through window.

According to court documents, Las Vegas police received multiple calls at approximately 7:46 p.m. on September 7 in reference to a shooting at a Popeye’s restaurant on the 4800 block of W. Sunset Rd. The callers said that a former employee there, later identified as David Jerron Bravo, had walked up to the drive-through window and fired one shot into it.

One of the callers said she was the manager at the restaurant and that she had fired Bravo earlier in the evening, at approximately 5:33 p.m. She said that she saw the suspect at the window “holding what appeared to be a silver handgun.”

Metro officers arrived on the scene, spoke to witnesses and reviewed surveillance video from a nearby business. Bravo was reportedly upset regarding a scheduling change and got into an argument with another employee around 2 p.m. He said that he was going to walk out if his shift was changed.

A manager advised Bravo that if he walked out, his employment would be terminated. The suspect eventually walked out and there was no further contact with him until he returned at approximately 7:42 p.m, parking a black Dodge Challenger in the store’s east parking lot.

Bravo allegedly exited the car and walked to the drive-through window. The report said he “brandished a handgun from his waistband and began knocking on the drive-thru window with it.” Employees moved away from the window at the sight of the gun and while they did so, the suspect fired once into the window, shattering it.

He then returned to his vehicle and drove away from the area. Police recovered a spent 9mm cartridge and a bullet fragment from the scene of the shooting. There was also “a bullet hole in the wall that separated the employee work area from the area where the customers would stand to order their food,” police said.

Another employee told police that Bravo was a “relatively new hire” and said that he worked another job. The witness added that prior to this incident, she “never had any issues with him previously.”

Police said the witness was “very nervous and scared” while providing a statement, and that she thought Bravo meant to shoot at her.

Investigators ran a DMV records check on the license plate of the Dodge, which indicated that Bravo was the registered owner. On September 8 at approximately 5:32 a.m., LVMPD SVAC patrol officers found the suspect’s vehicle, unoccupied, parked on the 5200 block of Del Gado Dr. The vehicle was sealed and taken to an impound lot.

An officer completed a search warrant for the vehicle at approximately 6:30 p.m., which was signed by a Las Vegas Justice Court judge. Officers arrived at the impound lot to complete the search at approximately 10:00 p.m.

That same day, an IT representative for Popeye’s provided investigators with interior video footage of the drive-through. It showed Bravo approaching the window on foot and speaking to an employee through the window before he grabbed his gun and pointed it at the window. The footage also reportedly showed the suspect tapping on the window before firing the weapon.

On September 9, Bravo was taken into custody without incident. After advising the suspect of his Miranda rights, police asked him where the handgun was and he said he didn’t know. He is facing charges of attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon, assault with the use of a deadly weapon and discharging a gun into an occupied structure.

Bravo’s bail was set at $25,000. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled in Justice Court for September 28.

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