Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Charleston, S.C., police shot and injured a man accused of killing one person and taking others hostage at a restaurant in a downtown area popular with tourists Thursday, the mayor said.
Emergency officials transported the accused killer to a local hospital, Mayor John Tecklenburg said.
Earlier in the afternoon, police said an "active shooter" shot one person and took others hostage at Virginia's restaurant on King Street.
Officers shut down traffic and asked the public to avoid the area.
Diners at the restaurant told the Charleston Post and Courier an armed man dressed as kitchen staff walked to the front of the restaurant from the kitchen and locked the front door.
"I am the new king of Charleston," he told the customers.
"This was not an act of terrorism," Tecklenburg said. "This was not a hate crime. This was a disgruntled employee."
Two diners -- Peter Siegert and his son, Peter Siegert IV -- said the man told them to move to the back of the building, where some exited two side doors. The younger Siegert said he wasn't sure if any other diners were still inside the restaurant.
The Charleston County Consolidated Dispatch told the Post and Courier it initially received a call about "a hostage situation involving a weapon."
Police placed streets around the restaurant on lockdown and evacuated a nearby CVS.
