Man shoots 1, holds hostages in restaurant in Charleston

Dozens of police officers are rushing to downtown Charleston, South Carolina, after police reported a “active shooter situation” near a stretch of restaurants and shops popular with tourists.

An angry employee shot one person today and was holding “a couple” of others hostage at a crowded restaurant during lunchtime in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, authorities said.

Police gather near the scene of a reported shooting in Charleston on Thursday. Authorities say a disgruntled employee shot one person and is holding hostages in a restaurant in an area that is popular with tourists. (AP Photo)

Hostage negotiators were trying to talk to the man inside Virginia’s, Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a news conference outside the restaurant, located on usually crowded King Street, a line of shops and nice dining that caters to both tourists and residents in South Carolina’s largest and most historic city.

“This is not an act of terrorism. This is not a hate crime. It is a disgruntled employee,” Tecklenburg said.

Police spokesman Charles Francis said at a news conference that the employee was holding a “couple” of hostages.

He did not respond to follow-up telephone calls seeking a more specific number and he did not give any details on the condition of the shooting victim.

Bystanders wait at a perimeter set up by local police after reports of a man armed with a handgun was holding hostages at a restaurant in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, US, August 24. (Reuters Photo)

The shooting was reported shortly after noon Thursday. Peter Siegert, 73, and his son Peter Siegert IV, 45, were quoted by The Post and Courier of Charleston as saying that just after several waitresses and kitchen workers walked out the door without saying a word, a man in an apron with a gun came out of the kitchen and locked the front door.

He said, “’I am the new king of Charleston,’” the Siegerts said.

The man told diners to get on the floor and move to the back of the restaurant. The Siegerts said they escaped out a back door and didn’t know how many people were left behind.

Charleston Police sent SWAT teams and a bomb disposal unit to the area. Authorities instructed people inside to stay inside and those outside to leave the area.

The site is 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