The case against a restaurant manager was charged within days as investigators pointed to video, a shell casing and a recovered handgun.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Clay County prosecutors moved within days to file three felony charges against a Wendy’s manager after police said he shot a customer outside the restaurant during a dispute that began at the drive-thru window.
That swift charging decision gave the case its public shape almost immediately. Rather than a long unidentified-suspect investigation, the matter became a direct prosecution of Terrence R. Phillips, 47, on counts of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. The immediate stakes were clear: a surviving victim, a named defendant, a firearm recovered from inside the business and early surveillance evidence that investigators said supported the customer’s account.
Prosecutors announced the charges on March 23, following the March 20 shooting at the Wendy’s at 4931 N. Oak Trafficway. Public reporting later said Phillips pleaded not guilty and was being held in the Clay County Jail on $1 million bond. That procedural posture matters because it places the case in an early but serious phase. The state has already alleged enough evidence to support violent felony counts, but the facts still have to be tested through hearings, motions and, if there is no plea, a trial. At this stage, the public can see the outline of the prosecution but not yet the full evidentiary presentation that would come in court.
The affidavit described by local outlets gives prosecutors their foundation. According to that record, the customer told police he arrived to pick up food for his family and was told at the intercom to pull to the window before ordering. He said he questioned the request, got a rude reply and later received his order. After his drinks spilled, he drove back to complain, found that workers would not engage with him and then drove around the south side of the building. There, he said, he encountered the same employee outside near a vehicle and was shot once while still in his own car. He then drove away and reached a nearby residence or apartment building, where emergency responders found him bleeding heavily before he was taken to a hospital.
The supporting evidence described in court records is what likely allowed prosecutors to move so quickly. Officers found a spent shell casing in the parking lot. Surveillance from inside the restaurant allegedly showed Phillips leaving the building, then captured car lights activating and what police described as a faint muzzle flash. The footage then appeared to show him returning inside with what looked like a black handgun in his left pocket. Officers later recovered a black Glock 22 from the walk-in freezer. Those details, if admitted and accepted by a jury, would give the prosecution not only an injured victim’s account but a physical and visual trail that roughly matches it.
Phillips’ interview with detectives sets up the likely points of dispute. He acknowledged being the manager and said he asked the customer to pull forward because chicken had to be cooked fresh late at night. He said the men exchanged words and that the customer later returned, yelling racial slurs while another order was being taken. Phillips told investigators he went outside because the hatch on his car was open and said he told the customer to move on. He denied shooting anyone, denied knowledge of the gun and denied involvement beyond the verbal exchange. The case, then, is not likely to turn on whether there was an argument. Both sides appear to agree there was. It will turn on whether the prosecution can prove Phillips was the person who fired the shot and then concealed the weapon.
There is also a broader procedural issue hanging over the file. Public reporting has not yet laid out whether prosecutors will pursue any additional allegations tied to the firearm itself beyond the charges already filed. KSHB reported that investigators determined the Glock had been stolen from the Norfolk Police Department, a fact that may or may not play a larger role as the case develops. Public reporting also has not shown the full surveillance footage, forensic testing results or any defense challenge to the customer’s identification. Those missing pieces are common in the early phase of a felony case, when probable cause has been established but the adversarial testing of evidence has barely begun.
As of April 17, the public record showed a compact but serious prosecution: one wounded customer, one arrested manager and one evidence trail prosecutors believe is strong enough to carry a violent felony case forward through the Missouri court system.
Author note: Last updated April 17, 2026.