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FERRIDAY, La. — A KFC employee and customer exchanged gunshots inside the restaurant in Ferriday on Tuesday evening.

Ferriday Police Chief Sam King said that once the men were interviewed by police and had a chance to cool off, the conflict boiled down to a misunderstanding.

Police responded to a call about gunshots being fired inside the restaurant at 4:50 p.m., he said.

Gregory Robinson Jr., 29, was apparently delivering food to a line of cars in the drive-thru when he proceeded to punch one of the drivers in the face several times.

“The employee stated he thought the driver was brandishing a gun at him, but the driver of the vehicle stated he did not,” King said.

After punching the driver, Robinson ran off and retrieved his gun from his vehicle that was parked outside of the restaurant while Markieth Jackson, 19, who was a passenger inside the vehicle, went inside the restaurant looking for Robinson, King said.

“Moments later, Robinson and Jackson saw each other and that was when gunshots were exchanged,” King said.

King said Robinson and Jackson, both from Ferriday, were taken into custody without further incident. The front windows and the windows on the door of KFC were shattered by bullets, but fortunately no one was hit, King said.

Jackson has been charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated criminal damage to property and illegal use of a weapon inside of city limits.

Robinson has been charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated criminal damage to property, simple battery and illegal use of a weapon inside city limits. He also had an outstanding arrest warrant for domestic abuse battery from Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office, King said. The warrant stems from an altercation between Robinson and the mother of his child that occurred in 2022.

“After they calmed down and talked, it was just a misunderstanding,” King said. “You can’t react that way and punch people and you certainly can’t start shooting at them in the heart of town inside Kentucky Fried Chicken. We can’t have that. We need to work to find better resolutions to our conflicts.”