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On February 21, 2022, police were called to a McDonald's outlet in Utah where a man had allegedly brandished a gun at the employees for giving him the wrong order. Upon arriving at the scene, police officers asked the accused to step out of his car. When the 27-year-old man refused, police opened the door of the car, dragged him out, and proceeded to handcuff him. At that very moment, one of the two children present inside the car pointed a gun at the officers and attempted to shoot them.
In bodycam footage released five months later, Utah officers can be seen forcing the suspect, 27-year-old Sadaat Johnson, out of his car. While handcuffing him, officer Morgan Matthews can be heard yelling "gun" before a shot rings out. The trigger was pulled by one of Johnson's children, a four-year-old child. The video shows Utah officers trying to placate the distressed children after one of them shot at them.
Trigger warning: The following video contains violent content. Viewer's discretion is advised.
Child "wanted his daddy back", shoots at police officers in front of a McDonald's outlet in the midst of growing demands for gun laws
In a video released by Utah police of an incident that took place on February 21, a man, accused of pulling a gun on McDonald's employees, was arrested by local authorities. What shocked everyone, however, was how a child, upon seeing his father being arrested by the police, shot at them with the latter's handgun.
According to court reports, the child had pointed a firearm at the police because "he wanted his daddy back." Police responding to the call from a McDonald's employee had initially alleged that Johnson had told his child to shoot at the police. This was not found in the court documents, however.
In March, Sadaat Johnson was charged with child abuse, aggravated assault and interference with an arresting officer.
Regarding the McDonald's incident in Utah, Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera had previously said in a statement:
"To have an adult think it is okay to encourage a four-year-old to pull a firearm and shoot at police illustrates how out of hand the campaign against police has gotten."
The Utah shooting comes at a time when America is focused on the ongoing penalty trial of Nikolas Cruz, who shot and killed 17 people at a Parkland high school in 2018. On May 24, 2022, 19 children were killed in a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Referring to the footage, people have commented on the easy accessibility of fatal weapons which can lead to children causing damage.
