Two Chick-fil-A Employees Slain by Illegal Immigrant in Texas

A Chick-fil-A restaurant in Irving, Texas, is temporarily closing its doors after a Salvadoran man in the U.S. illegally reportedly shot and killed two employees at the fast-food location.

Officers with the Irving Police Department said in the aftermath of the attack that they do not believe the double homicide was a random act of violence. Rather, they said, it was a “targeted” assault. And the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Oved Bernardo Mendoza Argueta, fled the scene before officers arrived, KXAS-TV reported.

Once police arrived on the scene, they pronounced two victims dead inside the restaurant.

Mendoza Argueta reportedly fled the scene in a 1997 Honda four-door sedan. He is married to a Chick-fil-A employee who witnessed the crime and identified her husband to authorities. Mendoza Argueta was captured by police in the early morning hours Thursday and booked in the Irving City Jail.

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He has been charged with capital murder.

The alleged perpetrator was swiftly placed on an immigration detainer by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which means ICE intends to take custody of the assailant.

A spokesperson for ICE told the New York Post that its Enforcement and Removal Operations in Dallas “lodged an immigration detainer with the Irving Police Department” regarding Mendoza Argueta.

“Our hearts are broken by the tragedy that unfolded inside our restaurant Wednesday,” the local Chick-fil-A franchise owner said in a statement. “We will miss our two team members dearly. Right now, our focus is on providing care for our team and the victims’ families.”

News of the killing comes as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump sparred in Thursday night’s debate over illegal immigration and trouble at the U.S.-Mexico border,” which the presumptive Republican presidential nominee described as “the most dangerous place anywhere in the world.”

“When he was president, he was … separating babies from their mothers, put him in cages, making sure that the families were separated,” said Biden, according to CBN News. “That’s not the way to go.”

Trump retorted, “We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now. All terrorists all over the world, not just in South America, all over the world. They come from the Middle East, everywhere, all over the world. … And this guy just left it open.”

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