Security guard charged with murder in shooting of a customer at Center City IHOP
Yahaira Melendez, of Philadelphia, was charged with murder after the Saturday evening incident.
A security guard who shot a patron at a Center City IHOP restaurant this past weekend has been charged with murder and related crimes, police said Monday.
Yahaira Melendez, 39, of Philadelphia, shot a man inside the restaurant on the 1300 block of Walnut Street shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. Police did not identify the victim.
Officers were called to the restaurant for a report of a person with a gun and arrived to find a 43-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.
Authorities said Monday that the man had caused a disturbance and was being escorted outside the restaurant by security personnel when he spit at Melendez.
She then fired her weapon and struck him in the head, police said.
A spokesperson for IHOP said the restaurant chain is cooperating with the investigation.
“The safety of our Team Members and guests is our number one priority,” the spokesperson’s statement read. “We take this incident extremely seriously.”
The District Attorney’s Office is expected to share more details on the incident at a news conference Tuesday.
Staff writer Michelle Myers contributed to this article.