An 11-year-old girl, Dora Belen Rivera, was critically injured after being shot in the head by an 18-year-old McDonald's worker in a parking lot in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The incident occurred on Saturday, June 27, as the worker, identified as Ralph N-Kosi Blue III, was arriving for his shift.
Rivera was inside an SUV with her two younger siblings, aged two and five, and her father, Oscar Roman Miron, when the shooting occurred. Her mother was inside the restaurant picking up food at the time. The family was not the intended target of Blue's actions. Her father was also injured, struck by a bullet in the hip.
According to a GoFundMe for Rivera, Blue fired his weapon after an altercation in the parking lot. Surveillance footage reportedly showed another individual running toward Blue and hiding on the other side of the SUV where the Rivera family was seated. Blue is then seen raising his gun and firing.
Rivera underwent surgery, but doctors were unable to remove the bullet from her head. She remains hospitalized and faces a lengthy recovery. Her father has since been discharged from the hospital. The two younger children in the vehicle were not physically harmed but were traumatized by the event.
Blue was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill. It is unclear if he is still employed by McDonald's. The Daily Mail has reached out for comment from McDonald's and the family.