{"id":196232,"date":"2026-04-14T00:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T00:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/196232\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T00:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T00:46:08","slug":"new-jersey-chick-fil-a-shooting-victim-identified-as-customer-from-nyc-authorities-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/196232\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Chick-fil-A shooting victim identified as customer from NYC, authorities say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The victim of a deadly shooting at a Chick-fil-A restaurant over the weekend in New Jersey has been identified as a 23-year-old customer from New York City, as police continue searching for the gunman.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Union County Prosecutor&#8217;s Office on Monday said Malek Shepherd was shot and killed when a gunman opened fire inside the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/news\/union-township-nj-chick-fil-a-shooting\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Chick-fil-A on Route 22 in Union<\/a> on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Shepherd was pronounced dead at the scene. Six other people wounded at the restaurant were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>The names of the other victims have not been released at this time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Police offer $10,000 reward for info<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor&#8217;s office said it was offering a $10,000 reward for any tips leading to an arrest. Investigators said the shooting was not random.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/newyork\/video\/n-j-police-continue-search-for-gunman-who-opened-fire-inside-union-chick-fil-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Dashcam video<\/a> from the parking lot shows a masked individual with a handgun sprinting out of the restaurant. Seconds later, several others run by and a light-colored sedan speeds off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/union-nj-multiple-shoot-wcbshhmr-hi-res-still-00-00-1812.jpg#.jpeg\" alt=\"union-nj-multiple-shoot-wcbshhmr-hi-res-still-00-00-1812.jpg \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\"  loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                @ghazish_ via Storyful<\/p>\n<p>Union Township Mayor Patricia Guerra-Frazier released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DXCZjQQASYL\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">a statement<\/a> that said, in part, &#8220;This tragedy is a painful reminder of the work that remains to ensure the safety of our communities. Violence has no place in the Township of Union, and we will continue to stand together &#8212; stronger and more united &#8212; in the face of it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We will provide updates as more information becomes available. In the meantime, we ask for patience, compassion, and support for one another as we begin to heal,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor&#8217;s office urged anyone with information to contact the Union County Police Department. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling\u00a0908-654-TIPS (8477)\u00a0or online at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.uctip.org\/sitemenu.aspx?ID=723&amp;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">uctip.org<\/a>, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Naomi Ruchim contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The victim of a deadly shooting at a Chick-fil-A restaurant over the weekend in New Jersey has been&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6596,9,56,63,65,64,3543],"class_list":{"0":"post-196232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-chick-fil-a","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-ny","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-nyc-headlines","13":"tag-nyc-news","14":"tag-union"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}