Man faces murder charge after fatal shooting outside Chipotle restaurant near Palm Beach Gardens
What began as a dispute between co-workers at the fast-food restaurant on Northlake Boulevard became an altercation between three men, PBSO says.
PALM BEACH GARDENS — A dispute between co-workers at a Chipotle Mexican Grill led last month to an exchange of gunfire in its parking lot that killed one person and Thursday resulted in the arrest of a West Palm Beach man on a murder charge.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said Izaiah Proby-Johnson, 27, helped a 25-year-old Chipotle employee attack the boyfriend of another restaurant worker on Nov. 3
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The 25-year-old died when the boyfriend shot him during the fight. The boyfriend told sheriff's office investigators that the 25-year-old had raised a gun in the direction of his mother, another employee at the Northlake Boulevard restaurant, according to Proby-Johnson's arrest report.
The sheriff's office said it considers the case closed. The arrest report indicates the boyfriend acted in self-defense.
Proby-Johnson, however, faces charges of second-degree murder and burglary with assault or battery. He is being held without bail at the Palm Beach County Jail.
The family of the 25-year-old Chipotle worker has invoked its right to privacy under a 2018 amendment to the state constitution allowing crime victims or their families to have their names withheld from public reports.
Argument with female co-worker prompted initial confrontation
According to Proby-Johnson's arrest report, the 25-year-old had gotten into an argument with a female co-worker two days before the shooting.
The co-worker told her boyfriend about the encounter when he picked her up from work. The woman's boyfriend, identified as a 23-year-old West Palm Beach man, confronted the male co-worker about his behavior. Witnesses said the altercation did not turn physical.
On Nov. 3, the 23-year-old returned to the restaurant to pick up his girlfriend, at which point Proby-Johnson and the 25-year-old confronted him in the parking lot, investigators said.
Witnesses told investigators Proby-Johnson and the 25-year-old reached inside the other man's vehicle and began attacking him. The 23-year-old man's mother and his girlfriend intervened and attempted to pull the other two men away from him.
The 23-year-old told investigators he saw the 25-year-old raise a weapon in his mother's direction, prompting him to fire in fear for his family and his girlfriend's safety.
The report states that a bullet went through the 25-year-old man's chest and struck Proby-Johnson in his right elbow. The 25-year-old was able to return gunfire, the bullet striking the younger man in the hand, then ricocheting through the window of a nearby Olive Garden restaurant.
Dispute spilled into restaurant after shooting, PBSO says in report
Proby-Johnson reportedly retrieved a pistol and chased after the 23-year-old while attempting to shoot, but the gun misfired, the report said. He then went into the restaurant and began attacking the man's mother. As several people began pushing him out of the restaurant, Proby-Johnson pleaded for help getting his wounded friend into his van.
Proby-Johnson then drove the 25-year-old to JFK Medical Center-North in West Palm Beach, but the man died from his wound, according to the sheriff's office. Paramedics took Proby-Johnson to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where doctors removed the bullet from his elbow. He declined to answer questions from investigators.
The 23-year-old also was taken to St. Mary's to be treated for his injuries.
The homicide is one of 93 confirmed homicides in Palm Beach County this year, according to a Palm Beach Post online database.
jwhigham@pbpost.com
@JuliusWhigham