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A Florida Chick-Fil-A employee is being called a hero after he tackled a carjacker in the parking lot. The thief was attempting to steal a vehicle with a woman and her baby inside.
The incident happened at a Chick-Fil-A location in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in the state's panhandle.
The employee, Mykel Gordon, tackled the carjacker to the ground in the restaurant's parking lot. He and other employees restrained the man until authorities could arrive.
You can watch part of the incident in the video below.
\u201cIn reference to the FWB Chick-fil-A employee who ran to help a woman with a baby who was being carjacked, we want to say a sincere thank you to Ms. Kelner for providing video of a portion of the encounter. (see prior post). A major shout-out to this young man for his courage!\u201d— OkaloosaSheriff (@OkaloosaSheriff) 1663191086
Gordon was working his shift in the restaurant's parking lot Wednesday afternoon when he heard a woman screaming for help from a nearby car.
The woman told deputies she was approached by the carjacker, William Branch, while getting her baby nephew out of the car. He came at her with a stick she says he appeared to intend to use as a weapon.
When she recoiled from him, he grabbed her car keys and got into the car while her nephew was still inside.
After hearing her screams, Gordon ran over and engaged Branch, tackling him to the ground and wrestling him while other employees ran to help. Branch punched Gordon in the face during the altercation, but he was otherwise uninjured.
Gordon told law enforcement that Branch had attempted another carjacking just 10 minutes earlier at the same Chick-Fil-A, when he reached into a woman's car, unlocked her passenger door, and got inside. He then got on top of her and commanded her to get out of the car.
Gordon intervened in that carjacking after hearing the woman shout for help, confronting Branch and chasing him off.
In a Facebook post, the Chick-Fil-A location praised Gordon for going above and beyond the call of duty, writing:
"At Chick-fil-A our mission is to 'Serve' and today Mykel took it further……to 'Save'."
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office also applauded Gordon in posts on Facebook and Twitter, in which they wrote:
"A major shout-out to this young man for his courage!"
On Twitter, people were similarly awed by Gordon's heroics.
\u201cWhat the hell kinda training do Chick-Fil-A employees go through?!?!?? \ud83d\ude2d\u201d— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty) 1663218920
\u201cThis is what a hero does!\u201d— Cathe \ud83d\udc36 \ud83d\udc31 \ud83d\ude37 \ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc99 (@Cathe \ud83d\udc36 \ud83d\udc31 \ud83d\ude37 \ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc99) 1663355657
\u201cChick-fil-A\u2019s customer service remains unmatched\u201d— Super Fan\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddea (@Super Fan\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddea) 1663290115
\u201cYou gotta be more qualified to be a Chick-fil-A employee than you do to be a US politician\u201d— Iyosias (@Iyosias) 1663258705
\u201cI don\u2019t think you can beat Chick-fil-A customer service \ud83d\ude2d\u201d— Torie.G \u2744\ufe0f (@Torie.G \u2744\ufe0f) 1663356308
\u201cChick-fil-A workers are just built different. It\u2019s like they get superpowers when they put on that red shirt.\u201d— Eric McClanahan (@Eric McClanahan) 1663345112
\u201cA Chick-fil-A employee ran to help a woman with a baby who was being carjacked. Ended up being a hero \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udf89\u201d— Daily Loud (@Daily Loud) 1663203107
\u201cChick fil A employees are next level lmao\u201d— Hayden Cunningham (@Hayden Cunningham) 1663195231
\u201cHands down gotta be the worst criminal in history. Broad daylight, robbing a woman with a baby, and you did it in front of Chick-fil-a. You know they got insane customer service.\u201d— Marquez V-S (@Marquez V-S) 1663249289
\u201c@OliviaIversonTV @ChickfilA @weartv May the Universe bless Mykel 1000 fold.\u201d— Olivia Iverson (@Olivia Iverson) 1663194670
Branch has been charged with battery and carjacking with a weapon.