Hammer-wielding suspect breaks door, threatens area Tim Hortons employee, report says

SPRINGFIELD — An area Tim Hortons shut down early Monday morning after a suspect reportedly shattered a door with a hammer and threatened an employee.

Springfield police were dispatched to a weapon call at the Tim Hortons located at 2000 East Main Street around 8:40 a.m., according to a Springfield police incident report.

Dispatch advised police that there was a man there with a hammer breaking things, and another man was there chasing him with a gun, the report said. It was also reported that a shot had been fired.

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Police arrived on the scene and found that the front door to the business had a “large hole” in it and was “completely shattered.”

An employee told police a man wearing a black hoodie and a facemask had approached the store and began hitting the outside of it with a ballpeen-like hammer.

The employee reported that the suspect raised the hammer at her as if to strike her while she was behind the counter. She then went to the office area.

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One customer told police he was inside the store when the suspect entered and that the suspect moved behind the counter area and began knocking over coffee and tea machinery.

After the suspect entered the store, another customer displayed his pistol that he was carrying and chased him out, according to the report.

The customer followed him until the suspect approached a car.

He told police that he believed the suspect was getting a firearm from the car, and he fired a shot into the air.

Witnesses told police they saw the suspect flee the area in a black sedan with dark-tinted windows and a blacked-out license plate cover.

According to the report, a store manager told police the suspect was there because his girlfriend had just been a customer at the drive-thru window and was unhappy with her order. The two started arguing over it, which caused the suspect to become angry with the store.

No arrests have been made at this time.

News Center 7 will continue updating this story as we learn more.

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