Some people screamed and ducked under the tables. Others tried to run out of the restaurant when a man armed with three guns, and shouting about the president and homosexuals in the military, started shooting.
Four people were killed and seven wounded before police shot down the gunman.Warrants issued on Saturday charge Army Sgt. Kenneth Junior French, 22, with four counts of first-degree murder and six counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. Police said another charge is pending. French, wounded in the leg and jaw, was listed in stable condition at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
He has refused to talk to police and has asked for a lawyer, said Lt. David Pulliam of the Fayetteville Police Department.
French, a native of Zephyrhills, Fla., is stationed at Fort Bragg, which borders Fayetteville, about 50 miles south of Raleigh. He has been in the Army since June 1, 1989, serving as a mechanic, according to Sgt. Ron Gardiner, a military spokesman.
French had no special weapons training and no negative reports are in his service record, Gardiner said. He previously was stationed at Fort Jackson, S.C., and in Korea.
Pulliam said French apparently had never been to the restaurant before. Police have not found any connection between French and
any of the people who work at Luigi's Italian restaurant, which is about a mile from Fort Bragg.
"It appears Luigi's was just randomly chosen," Pulliam said.
French drove a black Chevrolet truck to the restaurant and wore a hunting vest, police said. "He got out of the truck loaded for bear," Pulliam said.
Police Sgt. Mike Ballard said French entered the restaurant about 10 p.m. Friday, spoke loudly about "Clinton letting faggots in the military," and opened fire. The gunman had two shotguns and a .22-caliber rifle.
When the shooting ended, the restaurant's owners, 73-year-old Peter Parrous and his 65-year-old wife, Ethel, were found dead in a booth to the right of the entrance. They appeared to be clutching one another.
"A lot of people are going to cry for Mr. Pete Parrous," family friend Peter Poulous said. "Pete was a leader. He was an excellent family man."
Parrous, a native of northern Greece, had lived in Fayetteville for 54 years and introduced pizza to the town, Poulous said.