Shooting at Harrodsburg Rd. McDonald’s leaves Lexington man dead, officials say
A man has been arrested in connection with a shooting that left one person dead and another injured outside a fast food restaurant Wednesday morning, according to police.
Ayman Rafiq Al Abdey, 20, was arrested at the McDonald’s on Harrodsburg Road where the shooting occurred Wednesday morning. He was charged with assault and two counts of wanton endangerment, according to Fayette County jail records. Brenna Angel, a spokeswoman for the Lexington Police Department, confirmed the arrest was in connection to the shooting.
Investigators determined that Al Abdey had “some involvement” in the altercation, Sgt. Donnell Gordon said. He said it was too early in the investigation to provide specific details. He added that no other arrests had been made.
Rafiq Lufti Nagi, 40, died early Wednesday after being shot in the McDonald’s parking lot on Harrodsburg Road, the Fayette County coroner’s office said.
Police were called to the scene around 12:30 a.m. when a verbal argument turned into a shooting between two groups of people, according to Lexington police Lt. Chris Van Brackel. The shooting left one victim with life-threatening injuries at the scene and he was taken to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital by a third-party, Van Brackel said.
Nagi died at the hospital about 20 minutes after the shooting, according to the coroner’s office.
The shooting also left another victim with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. The second male victim drove to the Cook Out Restaurant located after Harrodsburg Road turns into South Broadway near downtown. He called 911 from that location. An ambulance picked him up and took him to the hospital.
Van Brackel said he wasn’t sure if police were initially called because of the argument or because of the shooting.
Van Brackel said it’s unknown how many people were involved in the altercation.
The death is the 11th homicide in Lexington this year, and the fourth since Kentucky learned of its first coronavirus case on March 6. There were a record 30 homicides last year, six of which were between March 6 and April 29.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 8:08 AM.