Waffle House shooting witness speaks out

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A witness to the shooting inside a Waffle House early Monday morning is telling WINK News what he saw.

The witness, who does not want to be identified, says that the man who pulled the trigger inside the restaurant fired in self defense.

24-year-old Dakota Fields was found dead after his friends crashed at the Edison Bridge as they rushed him to the hospital.

The witness, who says he spoke to deputies for hours, says a group of men came at the shooter inside the restaurant so he defended himself. The witness says it was also the shooter that called 911.

“As soon as they took off and left the scene, he took the clip out of his gun, unloaded it, put it on the counter asked to call the cops, I gave him my phone and he made the 911 call.”

The witness told deputies the shooter fired in self defense.

“If I’m in that guy’s position, I see three or four guys charging me and I got a gun on me, you have no choice. You have to do what you gotta do.”

Deputies confirmed a verbal altercation led to the shooting.

“When I walked in, there was a group of guys that were being rude and making vulgar comments at everyone who walked through the door.”

The witness says Fields and three friends were in that group. He says after a verbal argument, Fields stepped outside the restaurant.

According to the witness, that’s when one of Field’s friends punched the shooter in the face. The witness says Fields then ran back inside and the shooter pulled a gun.

“He shot one time, to the ground and he still kept coming and he shot him three times.”

Other witnesses on the scene say Fields was shot twice.

The four men took off in an SUV. Fields’ friends say they left the scene to take him to the hospital but never made it. According to deputies, the SUV crashed at the foot of the Edison Bridge after the driver ran a red light.

Authorities have not released the shooter’s name. At this moment, no arrests have been made.