A man was stabbed to death in a fight over a popular chicken sandwich at a Popeyes restaurant. Police responded to the location in the 6200 block of Livingston Road in Oxon Hill, Maryland, at around 7 p.m. on Monday night. Officers found a 28-year-old man with stab wounds in the restaurant's parking lot.
The officers, from Prince George's County Police Department, attempted life-saving measures before the man was transported to hospital, PGPD's director of media relations, Jennifer Donelan, said during a news conference late on Monday.
He succumbed to his injuries in hospital and died around 50 minutes after the stabbing. Donelan did not identify the victim, but said he was from the area.
She said investigators have determined that the fight was related to the return of the chicken sandwich at the Popeyes restaurant. She said an altercation began after an argument over cutting in line for the sandwich and spilled outside, where the victim was stabbed.
"We have been able to determine, preliminarily, that this is related to the release of the sandwich here at this restaurant," Donelan said. "This individual was in line specifically for the sale of the sandwich when another customer and he got into an altercation and that ended with the victim being stabbed outside of the business."
Donelan said there were "many" people in the Popeyes at the time of the altercation. Police are urging anyone who was there to come forward and speak to detectives, she said.
She also urged the suspect, described only as an adult male, to turn himself in. "We are looking for a male and that male knows who he is, he knows what he did here tonight and he needs to do the right thing and he needs to step up and he needs to turn himself in."
Donelan added that the incident was "extremely difficult" to put into words. "When we lose a life in our county, it is devastating to those who know the victims, its devastating to our communities but todays details, its just hard to put into words what happened here."
Anyone with information about the Maryland stabbing is urged to call Prince George's County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS.
In a statement to Newsweek, a Popeyes spokesperson said: "We are very sad to hear about the tragedy in Maryland."
They added: "We do not yet know whether this was the result of a dispute over one of our products or something unrelated, but there is no reason for someone to lose their life on a Monday night in a parking lot. Our thoughts are with the victim's family and friends and we are fully cooperating with local authorities."
Popeyes announced that it would be bringing its coveted chicken sandwich back to restaurants on Sunday after it caused a social media stir over the summer with some stores selling out fast and long lines forming at others.
Police in Houston, Texas, said a man threatened Popeyes employees with a gun after being told the restaurant was out of chicken sandwiches in September, according to ABC13.
Update: This story has been updated to include a comment from Popeyes.
