By Erica Thomas, managing editor
TRUSSVILLE — Trussville Police detectives believe a catering van at Full Moon BBQ, off Chalkville Mountain Road, was hit by a stray bullet during a shooting incident on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020.
According to a police report, a bullet hole was discovered by a company washing the restaurant’s vehicles, on Saturday, Sept. 12. The hole was in the driver’s side door of the van. The owner of the restaurant, Richard Yokeley, told police the van had been parked in a spot facing the Krystal restaurant, where a shooting occurred a month before.
Upon further inspection, officers found a bullet lodged into the frame of the driver’s seat of the van. Yokeley said although the incident is unfortunate, he is thankful no one was hurt.
“I’m glad to know what the source of the bullet going into the van was from,” said Yokeley. “It rattled us a little bit but I am thankful the van took it and nothing else.”
A man was charged in connection to the shooting incident at Krystal, but he was not the shooter, according to police. DeMarcus Daniel, 32, of Birmingham, is charged with assault first-degree and assault second-degree. Detectives said Daniel threw hot grease on two of his co-workers at Krystal after getting into an argument over $10.
Officers first responded to a call about multiple shots fired at the fast-food joint, near the Chalkville Mountain Road and Service Road intersection. While on the scene, detectives discovered six shots had been fired.
After investigating, police said they believe after Daniel threw the grease on the two victims, he got into his car and attempted to run over one of the victims that he had thrown grease on. That’s when investigators said the victim fired shots at Daniel.
Daniel was not hurt and police said they believe the shooter was acting in self-defense.
“All the evidence we reviewed and all of the witnesses we interviewed indicated that the victim was acting in self-defense,” said Chief Eric Rush. “At this time there will be no charges filed against him.”
Both employees who had grease thrown on them were taken to the hospital for treatment for serious burns. No other injuries were reported.