BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — I’m Madi Vollmer, and I’m here at the Bakersfield BBQ Company, where Monday night an incident occurred that could’ve ended very differently if it weren’t for the courage of one worker.
It was a chaotic scene inside the Bakersfield BBQ Company Monday night — customers ducking and hiding for cover, a woman grabbing her child, as panic broke out. A man claiming to have a gun tried to force his way into the restaurant.
(Ring Video) “Don't go back there! Everybody get out! Get out!”
In security video, you can see employee Audrey Chavez taking charge — shouting for everyone to get out and guiding them to safety before the intruder made his way inside. I spoke with Audrey Chavez, the worker you see in that video, who says her only focus in that moment was getting everyone to safety.
“Nothing like this before, to where I was actually in fear for my life when I was running in the kitchen because he said he had a gun and I believed him, ya know. I wasn’t going to take any chances, and I told everybody to get down. I wasn’t going to risk it.” Chavez said.
The owner of Bakersfield BBQ Co., Branden Slichter, says they’ve been serving customers at their 21st Street location for just over a year — and nothing like this has ever happened before. “Well, Miss Audrey over there did a heck of a job getting the people out and letting them know what was going on so they could decide for themselves,” Slichter said.
Audrey is only 20 years old and says she’s never experienced anything like this before — but she didn’t hesitate to act.
“I’m just quick thinking. I feel like already I grew up wrestling and I’ve always believed wrestling makes a big difference in your life and prepares you for a lot of things. And by no means is it the same, but I guess I was just quick on my feet.” Audrey Chavez said.
Bakersfield police say the suspect resisted arrest and appeared impaired; however, no gun was found on the intruder.
With Audrey’s quick thinking, maybe the outcome of the situation changed.
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