Man angry over wait for food kills Waffle House employee, NC cops say. He’s arrested
A man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting at a North Carolina Waffle House was arrested in Virginia.
Florwer Carlin Lizano Jr. was arrested Jan. 24 in Portsmouth, Virginia, four months after the September incident, according to a Facebook post by Scotland Crimestoppers.
Around 12:45 a.m. Sept. 13, officers were called to a Waffle House in Laurinburg, North Carolina, for reports of shots fired, according to a Facebook post by the Laurinburg Police Department.
Lizano went to the Waffle House and ordered food. But as he was waiting for his food, he became “agitated and verbally abusive toward the employees,” police said.
“A man, he was at the back of the line. The man, he just had one All-Star. And I knew I had to cook all of them plates. And I told them to give me like 15 or 20 minutes. He came back, like later, asking why his food was taking so long? That it didn’t take that long to cook bacon,” Jaylen Madden, who worked there as a cook at the time, told WPDE.
Lizano was given his food, then he walked to a car, pulled out a gun and shot twice toward the restaurant, police said.
Burlie Dawson Locklear, an 18-year-old employee, was shot, according to police. He was taken to a hospital where he later died.
Madden was Locklear’s girlfriend, according to WPDE. She recalled the moment she found out he was hit by gunfire.
“He said, ‘bae he shot me.’ So I dropped the phone and he ran back there where I was at. He had a gunshot wound right here. And I said, ‘baby, it’s going to be OK.’ I was thinking he was in shock. He was holding his stomach. He said ‘no bae, my stomach.’ And he pulled his apron and his shirt up. And I seen where he was shot in his stomach,” Madden told WPDE.
Lizano took off after the shooting, according to police.
Police released images from surveillance footage and asked the public for help finding Lizano.
“After a 4 month manhunt, and coordination of multiple agencies, Lizano has been arrested,” the Laurinburg Police Department said in a Jan. 24 Facebook post.
Lizano will be extradited from Virginia to North Carolina, officials said.
“Dawson was truly one of a kind. He was a jokester and a spirit lifter. No matter how you felt, he could make you laugh and smile,” Locklear’s obituary said.
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Laurinburg is about a 105-mile drive southeast of Charlotte.
This story was originally published January 26, 2025 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Man angry over wait for food kills Waffle House employee, NC cops say. He’s arrested."
