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		</div><h6><span style="color:#0d0101;"><strong>Police identify</strong><strong> Thomas Demetrius Burns, 53, as hostage taker who shot and killed executive restaurant chef Shane Whiddon on Thursday</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#0d0101;">Executive chef Anthony Shane Whiddon, 37, was shot to death at his workplace, by a fired staffer at Virginia&#8217;s Restaurant in Charleston, SC </span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#0d0101;"><strong>The disgruntled dishwasher was shot by police after he killed chef Whiddon and took hostages inside a restaurant</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#0d0101;"><strong>Witnesses said the dishwasher who was fired left, then came back brandishing a handgun and ordered staff and customers to &#8216;get down&#8217;</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#0d0101;"><strong>“I am the new king of Charleston,” Burns declared</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#0d0101;"><strong>The former employee at Virginia&#8217;s, was shot by police after he shot the chef and took hostages </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#0d0101;"><strong>Burns was stretchered out in critical condition, he later died, all hostages were rescued</strong></span></h6>
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<h6 class="mol-para-with-font"><strong><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-243556" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/police-activity-at-the-scene-of-a-reported-shooting-in-charleston-south-carolina-thursday-4.jpg" alt="Police activity at the scene of a reported shooting in Charleston, South Carolina Thursday 4.jpg" width="692" height="392" />Police and SWAT team in position as hostage negotiators tried to talk to the hostage taker at Virginia&#8217;s Restaurant, lunch time in Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday</strong></h6>
<h6 class="ra-caption"><img class="alignnone wp-image-243828" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/executive-chef-anthony-shane-whiddon-3.png" alt="Executive chef Anthony Shane Whiddon 3" width="640" height="924" />Executive chef Anthony Shane Whiddon was shot to death by a fired dish washer at Virginia&#8217;s Restaurant in Charleston, SC on Thursday</h6>
<p class="mol-para-with-font">Charleston police named 53-year-old Thomas Demetrius Burns (pictured) as the suspect who shot and killed executive restaurant chef Shane Whiddon in Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday<br />
Police in South Carolina shot the former restaurant worker who they say killed a chef and took several people hostage in downtown Charleston this afternoon. Executive chef Anthony Shane Whiddon, 37, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, was shot to death at his workplace, by a fired dish washer at Virginia&#8217;s Restaurant in downtown Charleston, on Thursday.<br />
Law enforcement officials in Charleston announced the situation has been resolved shortly after 3 pm, nearly three hours after the first reports about an active shooter at Virginia&#8217;s On King started coming in.<br />
The mayor of Charleston told reporters the gunman has been shot by police and was taken to a hospital in critical condition.<br />
One victim, described by local news outlets as a chef, has succumbed to his wounds.<br />
Interim Charleston Police Chief Jerome Taylor says all the hostages at Virginia&#8217;s restaurant were rescued safely. He didn&#8217;t say how many there were.</p>
<h6><img class="alignnone wp-image-244398" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/thomas-demetrius-burns-charleston-shooter1.jpg" alt="Thomas Demetrius Burns - Charleston shooter1.jpg" width="803" height="1005" /><strong>Charleston restaurant hostage taker Thomas Demetrius Burns [photo], shot and killed executive restaurant chef Shane Whiddon on Thursday</strong></p>
<p><strong><img class="alignnone wp-image-243554" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/virginias-restaurant-3.png" alt="Virginia's restaurant 3.png" width="756" height="1004" />A fired employee at Virginia&#8217;s On King in Charleston, South Carolina, reportedly opened fire during lunch, fatally shooting a chef</strong></h6>
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<h6 class="imageCaption"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-243536" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/emts-strercher-off-an-injured-person-in-charleston-shooting.jpg" alt="EMTs strercher off an injured person in Charleston shooting.jpg" width="1024" height="666" /><strong>Police transport the injured gunman from the scene. The man later died</strong></h6>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">According to witnesses, it is believed the incident began unfolding at Virginia&#8217;s On King, a Southern food restaurant in the 400 block of King Street.<br />
A family were having lunch at the eatery when they tell the <a class="" href="http://www.postandcourier.com/news/charleston-police-active-shooter-situation-in-downtown-king-street-closed/article_89220c92-88e9-11e7-8f83-af584f17e532.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Charleston Post and Courier</a> a middle-aged man emerged from the kitchen brandishing a loaded revolver and announced, &#8216;There&#8217;s a new boss in town.&#8217;<br />
The gunman’s sudden appearance sent patrons fleeing for their lives out of the eatery. There were about 30 people having lunch at Virginia&#8217;s during the incident.<br />
A tourist from Maryland and his son recounted a similar story, saying a black man in an apron walked through the door holding a small-caliber revolver, locked the door and said, &#8216;I am the new king of Charleston.&#8217;<br />
Some described the person in question as a black man in his late 50s. One diner, Patsy Plant, told the paper the armed man looked like a &#8216;grandpa&#8217; but had &#8216;a crazy look.<br />
Virginia&#8217;s owner, John Aquino, told <a class="" href="http://www.live5news.com/story/36210067/police-1-person-shot-hostage-situation-underway-in-downtown-charleston" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">WCSC-TV</a> he thought the gunman was a dishwasher who was fired and came back to Virginia&#8217;s to get revenge by shooting a male chef because he was angry at him.<br />
During an earlier press conference held this afternoon, Charles Francis, a spokesman for the Charleston Police Department, said officers who responded to the scene at 12.17pm located one shooting victim and had that person transported to a hospital.<br />
Francis also said there are &#8216;a couple of hostages&#8217; in the building.<br />
Witnesses say the gunman let diners, waitresses and some kitchen staff out of the restaurant.<br />
Authorities said a hostage negotiation team had tried to talk to the gunman.</p>
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<h6 class="overlay-icon mobile-gallery"><img class="alignnone wp-image-243527" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/police-activity-at-the-scene-of-a-reported-shooting-in-charleston-south-carolina-thursday-2.jpg" alt="Police activity at the scene of a reported shooting in Charleston, South Carolina Thursday 2.jpg" width="1075" height="604" /><strong>Heavy police presence seen at the scene on King Street in Charleston after the shooting, Thursday, lunch time</strong></h6>
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<h6 class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5"><img class="alignnone wp-image-243505" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/members-of-the-public-watch-asl-police-deal-with-armed-hostages-taker-at-the-restaurantc2a0.png" alt="Members of the public watch asl police deal with armed hostages taker at the restaurant .png" width="1114" height="707" /><strong>Members of the public watch as police deal with armed hostage taker at a Charleston restaurant, Thursday</strong></h6>
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<h6 class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5"> <img class="alignnone wp-image-243561" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/police-activity-at-the-scene-of-a-reported-shooting-in-charleston-south-carolina-thursday-3.jpg" alt="Police activity at the scene of a reported shooting in Charleston, South Carolina Thursday 3.jpg" width="729" height="526" /><strong>SWAT team and Police officers in position, guns drawn near Virginia&#8217;s, as negotiators tried to coax the fired staffer is said to be holding hostages.</strong></h6>
<div class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5">Hostage negotiators, SWAT officers and bomb specialists are at the scene in Charleston</div>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">Reports of an active shooter prompted a heavy police presence in the area and caused lockdowns at nearby businesses, which have since been lifted.<br />
Heavily armed SWAT officers and a bomb squad also responded to the scene.<br />
&#8216;This was not an act of terrorism,&#8217; Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg rushed to reassure the public. &#8216;This was not a hate crime. This was a disgruntled employee.&#8217;<br />
The restaurant is located a few blocks away from Emanuel AME church, where nine black members of a church were killed by a white man during a June 2015 Bible study. Dylann Roof was sentenced to death in the case.</p>
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Thomas Demetrius Burns, 53, ID’d as disgruntled dishwasher who killed Exec chef Anthony Shane Whiddon, inside a Charleston, SC restaurant on Thursday
