In-N-Out Burger CEO Lynsi Snyder has broken her silence after a gunman killed three people and wounded seven others at the chain’s Twin Falls, Idaho location on Saturday, August 1.
Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks confirmed the casualty toll at a news conference on Sunday, August 2, noting that two of the seven injured victims remained in critical condition. Hicks identified the suspected shooter as 24-year-old Chad Williams, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The location had only been open for eight days, having welcomed its first customers on July 24.
A Chaotic Scene
Hicks described the scale of the incident in stark terms. “It was a very chaotic scene,” he said. “We have literally hundreds of people that were in some way, shape or form in the area of this restaurant at the time.” Authorities have not yet released the names of the victims, with Hicks stating that police will do so only after all family members and loved ones have been formally notified.
Snyder Responds
Snyder, who took over the company following her late father’s death and has long described In-N-Out as family, revealed that one of the victims was an employee who had been serving customers at the time of the attack. “My heart is broken, my chest is heavy, my eyes burn from the tears I’ve shed,” she wrote, saying the gunman “took the precious lives of our Associate and Customers, innocent people who never saw it coming.”
Snyder pledged that the company would stand alongside those affected in the weeks ahead. “IN-N-OUT will be mourning with the families and praying for them as they tread through a very painful season,” she said. “I am no stranger to loss, but this is so incredibly tough, and my heart also goes out to all of the Associates and Customers who were there during this traumatic event.”
As the investigation continues, authorities have given no indication of a motive, and the community around Twin Falls faces the grim task of processing a tragedy that struck one of the town’s newest gathering spots just days after it opened.
