Investigators say the late-night attack at the Route 22 restaurant was targeted.
UNION, N.J. — A shooting inside a Chick-fil-A on Route 22 late Saturday killed one person and wounded six others, sending customers and workers scrambling for cover as police sealed off the restaurant and opened a homicide investigation.
The violence shocked a township better known for crowded shopping plazas than major crime scenes. By Sunday evening, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office had confirmed one death, said the six surviving victims had non-life-threatening injuries and described the shooting as targeted rather than random. Detectives had not announced arrests, named the dead or injured, or said how many shooters entered the restaurant, leaving families, workers and nearby businesses waiting for a fuller public account.
Police said officers answered reports of shots fired at about 9 p.m. Saturday at the restaurant on Route 22 near Gelb Avenue. Within minutes, patrol officers, ambulances and investigators crowded the lot as customers ran outside and families rushed to the scene after frantic calls. Martin, a ride-share driver who had just finished a nearby trip, said he heard more than seven shots before he saw police flood the area. A father of one employee said his son called in panic from inside, telling him several masked men had entered the business. By late evening, officers were still moving in and out of the building, and the parking lot remained blocked while detectives sorted out who had been inside and where the gunfire began.
By Sunday, prosecutors had put the basic toll on the record: seven victims inside or around the restaurant, one dead at the scene and six others treated for injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. The prosecutor’s office said the preliminary investigation showed no immediate threat to the broader public, but it released no suspect names or detailed descriptions. Emergency dispatch audio aired by local television gave an early sense of the chaos. In that recording, a dispatcher reported an unconscious person, one victim shot in the face and at least two others hit in the legs. Witness video broadcast by local stations appeared to show a masked person running from the area with a handgun. Those fragments offered the clearest public picture of the shooting’s violence, even as key facts, including the number of shooters and the sequence of events inside the restaurant, remained unconfirmed.
Investigators have said the shooting did not appear random, an important point in a case that unfolded in a crowded fast-food restaurant still open late on a busy Saturday. Officials have not publicly explained why they believe the gunfire was targeted, and they have not said whether the person who died was the intended victim. Two officials familiar with the matter said investigators were examining whether the violence grew out of a drug or gang dispute and whether other people struck by gunfire were employees or bystanders. Prosecutors themselves have not confirmed that account. They also have not said whether an altercation happened inside the restaurant or just before the shots were fired, though one family member said a loved one inside described some kind of confrontation involving the gunmen. For now, motive remains one of the biggest unanswered questions in the case.
The setting helped explain the shock that spread across Union Township overnight. The restaurant stands at 2319 U.S. Highway 22 West, in the middle of one of North Jersey’s busiest commercial corridors, a stretch lined with chain stores, takeout spots and quick-turn parking lots that stay active well into the evening. Nearby workers said the area is usually full of young employees, delivery drivers and families stopping for dinner. News crews on scene Saturday showed a sealed restaurant, flashing police lights and a parking lot crowded with officers for hours after dark. By Sunday morning, the immediate police presence had lifted, but the business had not returned to normal. Chick-fil-A’s location page listed the Union Township restaurant as temporarily closed. The company did not offer a broader public comment, and a spokeswoman declined to comment because the investigation remained active.
The legal process now turns on evidence detectives collect away from the cameras. The Union County Prosecutor’s Office said its Homicide Task Force is leading the case with Union police. That usually means investigators are reviewing surveillance video from the restaurant and nearby businesses, matching witness accounts against dispatch times, examining shell casings and other physical evidence, and tracing how the shooters arrived and left. As of Sunday night, no charging documents, arrest warrants or court dates had been made public. Prosecutors also said anonymous tips that lead to an indictment and conviction could qualify for a reward of up to $10,000, a sign that investigators still need help identifying the people responsible. The next formal step is likely to be a fuller statement from prosecutors laying out the victim identities, the number of suspects and whether criminal charges will be filed.
Public officials struck a careful tone Sunday, mixing grief with restraint. Gov. Mikie Sherrill said she had been briefed on the shooting and remained in contact with local officials, adding that her thoughts were with the victim’s loved ones and the people who were hurt. Union Mayor Patricia Guerra-Frazier said the township was “heartbroken and shaken” by violence that turned an ordinary evening into a scene of grief and confusion. Around the restaurant, neighbors and nearby workers described the same sense of disbelief. Ben Wegner, who said he was working across Route 22 when the commotion began, said, “It was craziness.” Families of employees waited outside the police tape for word from relatives who had been on shift. Their accounts, along with witness videos and dispatch audio, filled the silence left by investigators, who had disclosed the casualty count but little else about how the attack unfolded.
That gap between what the public knows and what detectives know has shaped every update so far. By Sunday, the names of the dead and injured still had not been released, and police had not said whether all seven victims were customers, workers or passersby caught in the gunfire. Jeanine Camporine, who owns a business across the street, said the area’s growing number of incidents had become a concern for nearby merchants, even though Route 22 is also a place where people routinely stop for everyday errands. The contrast, a familiar suburban shopping strip turned overnight into a homicide scene, gave the case unusual force. It was not a shooting in an isolated lot or on a dark back street. It happened in a brightly lit fast-food restaurant where employees were serving dinner and families were still coming and going.
As of Sunday night, no suspect had been publicly identified and no arrest had been announced. The next milestone is expected to come from the prosecutor’s office, which will determine when investigators can release names, describe the suspects and say whether charges will follow in the days ahead.
Author note: Last updated April 12, 2026.