Police said no one was wounded after a late-night fight outside the Dixie Avenue restaurant turned into gunfire.
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — A late-night gathering of dozens of teens outside a Waffle House on Dixie Avenue ended in gunfire after a parking lot fight, Cartersville police said, leaving two vehicles damaged and workers shaken but no reported injuries.
Police said the shooting happened late Saturday after 30 to 50 teens gathered at the restaurant, a well-known stop along a busy commercial stretch in Cartersville. Investigators said surveillance video shows a fight broke out in the parking lot before guns were drawn. The immediate concern for officers was whether anyone had been hit and who opened fire, but by the time police arrived, most of the crowd had already scattered.
Employees inside the restaurant said the night had started calmly. Lulu Crutcher said the teens who came in just before midnight were polite while ordering food and did not initially seem disruptive. After the meals were served, she and Justin Crutcher stepped outside for a break. Justin Crutcher said the scene changed in an instant. “Next thing I know: pow, pow, pow, pow, six of them rang out,” he said, describing a burst of shots that sent the couple ducking behind a vehicle. He said he jumped on his wife as they tried to protect themselves. The sound of gunfire outside a busy restaurant, he said, left workers and customers scrambling for cover in a matter of seconds.
Capt. Greg Sparacio said witness accounts and video reviewed by investigators indicate there were multiple shooters. He said one vehicle was struck in the Waffle House parking lot and another was hit while driving by on Joe Frank Harris Parkway, a nearby thoroughfare that carries steady traffic through the area. Police said no gunshot victims had been identified as of the latest update, a detail that sharply narrowed the known damage even as investigators continued sorting through what happened. Lulu Crutcher recalled speaking with the driver of the passing vehicle after the shots were fired and said he appeared stunned. “I just came here to get pork chops,” she quoted him as saying. That account captured how quickly people who were not part of the confrontation may have been caught in the danger.
The case now turns on video, witness statements and the challenge of identifying who was involved in the fight before the shooting began. Police said investigators are reviewing surveillance footage from numerous businesses around the restaurant to map the sequence of events and determine who drew weapons first. No arrests had been announced, and authorities had not publicly said how many guns were used or exactly what started the dispute. Justin Crutcher said he was struck by how young many of the people outside appeared to be. He said they did not look old enough to drink, making the presence of firearms even more jarring to workers who had just finished serving them food.
For now, the case remains an active investigation centered on the parking lot and the nearby roadway where the second vehicle was hit. Police have not released suspect names or descriptions, and they have not said whether the shooters and the people involved in the initial fight were the same group. What is clear is that the shooting ended without reported physical injuries, even though bullets struck property and sent people diving for safety. The next major step is the police review of business surveillance and other evidence as detectives work to identify the shooters and determine whether charges will be filed.
Author note: Last updated March 17, 2026.