A man has been charged with fatally shooting a Marine in the drive-thru of a McDonald's in Bedford, Indiana, according to police and NBC affiliate WTHR.
Justin Lampkins, 25, was in a truck with his friends in line at the fast food restaurant early Saturday morning about 1:19 a.m., police say. The Marine Corps veteran was involved in a fight after “a horn was sounded” in the line and Evan Schaffer, 22, got out of his car and punched Lampkins, WTHR reports.
Police say it's unclear who honked the horn.
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"The victim shoved the accused back, the accused then presented a handgun," Bedford assistant police Chief Joe DeWees told WTHR.
Police said Schaffer shot Lampkins in the chest before fleeing the scene. Lampkins was taken to Indiana University Health Bedford where he later died, according to a police department Facebook post.
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Schaffer was arrested Sunday and charged Monday with murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to a Lawrence County Jail Division official.
"It's a senseless act to kill somebody over a horn," DeWees said. "This is one of the most senseless, senseless acts I have ever seen."
Lampkins’ brother-in-law, Erick Stahl, is also a veteran who deployed to Afghanistan, WTHR reports.
"It's tough," Stahl said. "Not everybody's built to handle what we do overseas, and to see it at a McDonald's, of all places, is sad."
Lampkins' family told WTHR his grandfather, an Army veteran, inspired him to join the military.
"He was [the] epitome of a Marine, [he would] stand up for everybody," said Stahl.
Stahl said Lampkins was devoted to his family, his nephew and his dog.
"He wasn't violent, he only ever defended to the means he needed to and it came from nowhere this time,” he told WTHR. “His whole life was riddled with stories of defending people when they needed it. He was not violent, he did not act like that. He was not an angry or disrespectful person. He's going to be missed."
According to WTHR, Lampkins graduated from Bloomington North High School in 2010. After high school he spent four years on active duty based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He achieved the rank of sergeant by the time he was discharged in late 2015.
It wasn't clear if there is an attorney who could speak on Schaffer's behalf.
