McDonald's worker shot with paintball gun: 'I thought I was gonna die'

It was early Monday morning, and the drive-thru customer wanted a McFlurry or an ice cream, but a worker at the McDonalds on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn told the man the machine was down.

The customer grew “agitated and irritated,” but continued to place his order— a 10-piece McNugget, two hamburgers, and a drink, said the worker, who asked that only her first name be used — Kivona.

Kivona, 25, said she told the man to pull up to the next window.

But instead of paying and taking his order, he pulled out a paintball gun and shot her in the face at close range, just an inch or two from her eye.

Kivona said she was shocked and hysterical, held her face and cried. The man didn’t take his order or say anything before driving off, Kivona said.

“It was traumatizing,” Kivona said. “I really thought it was a real gun and I thought I was gonna die.”

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Dearborn police detailed the incident in a news release and said that they are still looking for the suspect. Police did not name the victim in the statement.

Police said they responded to the McDonald’s location at about 1 a.m. on Monday after receiving a report that an employee had been shot with a paintball. Police said the victim fled southbound on Gulley Street in a vehicle. Kivona couldn’t provide a specific description of the vehicle to the Free Press.  

Kivona, who was treated at a hospital, said her wound is still trying to heal and the mark is still on her face, but she can’t feel anything.

“This act of urban terrorism will never be tolerated,” Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said in the news release.

Crime Stoppers has offered $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the suspect, according to the police statement.

“I didn’t deserve what happened,” Kivona said. “I really didn’t. I was just doing my job.”

Contact Hasan Dudar at hdudar@freepress.com.