The Daily Pennsylvanian :: Online Update | Shot fired inside McDonald's at 40th and Walnut Streets

A shot was fired in the McDonald's on 40th and Walnut streets the evening of June 28.

Though no one was injured, two men were arrested and charged in connection with the incident.

At about 5:30 p.m., police say that a male customer got into an argument with a McDonald's employee.

A second customer, whom police believe to be a friend of the first customer, then allegedly pulled out a handgun and fired one shot in the restaurant. The two suspects then attempted to flee the scene on foot, according to police.

Both Philadelphia and Penn Police responded to the incident after being alerted to it via radio by an AlliedBarton security guard.

Philadelphia police arrested one suspect at the scene, and Penn police arrested another around the corner from the McDonald's as he attempted to flee, according to Division of Public Safety spokeswoman Stefanie Cella.

The two men charged in connection with the shooting are Jonathan McBride, 27, and James Rhodes, 18.

McBride is charged with carrying a weapon without a license, aggravated assault and related charges. He is being held on $100,000 bail and has a preliminary hearing scheduled July 9.

Rhodes is charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. He is being held on $10,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled August 5.

This marked the second time in about a week that gun violence has occurred in that area of the Penn Patrol Zone. On June 22, Penn police arrested two men in connection with the murder of a man whose body was discovered on the 3900 block of Market Street and who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Cella said that the two incidents are unconnected, though attributed DPS' quick response to the McDonald's incident to an increase in security in the area following the Market Street shooting. She added that, since the McDonald's incident, DPS had "adjusted" its deployment in the area.

SP News Editor Lara Seligman contributed reporting to this article.

*This article was update at 6:26 p.m. on Thursday, July 3, 2008.

Comments (9)

McDonald's at Penn is a yucky place which stays alive because of the community leaders want the homeless, psychotic and generally depraved members of the West Philadelphia community to have a place to hang out. No one should be surprised that a gunshot would be fired in such a wretched place. If my life ever reduces itself to hanging out at MCDonald's, I might go crazy too.

Gunshots twice on 40th st in one week with a body. Are they waiting for the students to come back before doing something? Every night, the area is packed with young guys and girls swaggering and spoiling for a fight. It is really out of control. The Bridge and other entertainment venues were supposed to enhance campus life but has turned 40th st. into thug alley.

Thug alley? That's a bit of an overstatement. I think 40th Street has a lot of interesting shops (the used bookstore is a particularly cool place) and a lot of foot traffic and I never feel unsafe there. The occasional crazy person adds character- they are members of the human races as well. An infinitely more depressing environment is your average suburban mall.

Yeah all them darkies, with their big black cocks. Get 'em the hell outta Penn.

Oh please. We're going to mock suburbia and praise west philadelphia? What kind of backwards reasoning do you have? Oh yeah, it's really so terrible living in a place where people are friendly and you don't have to walk around on guard all the time. Oh yeah, give me the smog, crime, shitty attitude and misery of the fine folks in that area over a peaceful existence anyday. Tell you what buddy, you can have it. Sure 40th street isn't a bad place in a relative sense, but it is still bad enough for these kinds of things to go on. Instead of mocking people for calling it thug alley or saying that it is dangerous, how about bitching about the low-lifes who make place worse than what it has to be.

Aren't we sophisticated, despising suburbia? Clearly Dave is a man of rare taste.

[QUOTE id="8e709246-9659-4be8-9bb9-7ff71151c2a3"]Aren't we sophisticated, despising suburbia? Clearly Dave is a man of rare taste.[/QUOTE] Despising suburbia may be trite but that doesn't mean it isn't warranted.

[QUOTE id="2e09f8f5-1b62-4e0b-af4b-7313e2662813"]Thug alley? That's a bit of an overstatement. I think 40th Street has a lot of interesting shops (the used bookstore is a particularly cool place) and a lot of foot traffic and I never feel unsafe there. The occasional crazy person adds character- they are members of the human races as well. An infinitely more depressing environment is your average suburban mall.[/QUOTE] Dave, "Thug Alley" is accurate. With all of these blacks in the area what do you expect?

Anyone who thinks 40th, anywhere near campus, is "Thug Alley" is a god damn idiot who needs to get out of Connecticut and Penn's campus a bit before their retardation leaves them sterile and mindless.

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