News broke in recent weeks that Kandi Burruss’ cousin, Chef Melvin Jones, had been shot at Blaze Steak and Seafood restaurant in Atlanta.
Allegedly, an argument between employees went from bad to worse in the upscale eatery Kandi owns with her husband, Todd Tucker. There is no news yet regarding what the disagreement was over, but we do know Chef Melvin sustained a gunshot to his arm. His injuries were non-life threatening, but horrifying nonetheless. The person who shot him has not been identified. They apparently fled the scene immediately after the shooting.
While Atlanta police search for Kandi’s former employee, she is speaking out about the incident. In an interview with People, she revealed that Melvin is “doing fine.”
“He’s getting through it, so since he’s okay, I’m okay. If he wouldn’t have been okay, I wouldn’t have been okay, you know what I mean?” Kandi explained. “Obviously, he’s uncomfortable. But [the bullet] didn’t hit anything that won’t heal,” she continued. “He’s at home, he’s healing. He’s fine. I mean, he’s not fine but he’s [okay].”
The day after the attack, Blaze Steak and Seafood closed to hold a staff training. They announced, “Blaze will be closed today for a system update and staff training. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.”
Melvin is the chef at Blaze Steak and Seafood. He is also the culinary manager at Kandi’s other restaurant, Old Lady Gang. Fans of Kandi and Real Housewives of Atlanta were introduced to Melvin during the Kandi and The Gang spin-off show. We saw that Kandi is extremely close to her cousin and that Melvin is quite close to his grandmother, the infamous Aunt Bertha.
Back in 2020, three people were left injured after a patron burst into the OLG restaurant and tried to shoot one guest, seemingly out of nowhere. The shooter also caused harm to two others who were innocent bystanders. Thankfully, none of the injuries were life-threatening, and all victims eventually recovered. Similarly, the shooter, in this case, went on the run, and the police had to initiate a search.
Thankfully, Chef Melvin seems to be recovering from his attack without ongoing complications.
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[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]