The Bad Influence reports another employee attempted to flee. However, he was caught before he could make it out of the restaurant, and taken into the back with Solis and the others. One of the men then threatened franchise co-owner Lynn Ehlenfeldt with a knife, and forced her to give him the contents of the safe, which was nearly $2,000. He then slashed her throat and placed her body in a walk-in cooler. As reported by NBC5 Chicago, the man shot and killed four other employees who were already inside the cooler. His accomplice then shot the two remaining employees, who were inside the restaurant’s walk-in freezer.
A total of seven people were killed in the Brown’s Chicken massacre, including franchise owners Richard and Lynn Ehlenfeldt, as well as employees Michael Castro, Guadalupe Maldonado, Thomas Mennes, Marcus Nellsen, and Rico Solis. According to The Bad Influence, the youngest victims were Castro, who was 16, and Solis, who was 17. Both teens were students at Palatine High School and worked part-time at the restaurant.
Authorities were alerted to the situation by several calls reporting friends and family members had not returned home following their shift at Brown’s Chicken. Police arrived on the scene at approximately 3 a.m. and found the door to the employee entrance unlocked and several cars in the parking lot. When they went inside, they discovered the victims dead inside the cooler and freezer.
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