ERIE, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania McDonald's employees who tipped off police and tried to stall Facebook murder suspect Steve Stephens are being called heroes on social media.
People quickly took to Twitter, saying that the workers deserve the $50,000 reward for finding and helping lead police to Stephens Tuesday.
Police said Stephens, 37, killed 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. in Cleveland Sunday, then posted video of the horrific crime on Facebook.
A multi-state manhunt ensued, and there was no sign of Stephens until Tuesday at a little after 11 a.m. Thomas DuCharme Jr., the owner of the Erie McDonald's, said a worker there recognized Stephens as he came through the drive-thru and alerted her supervisor.
"I looked out and I'm like, 'It sure does look a lot like him,'" DuCharme remembered. "She (the drive-thru worker) was already on the phone at that time, so hats off to my crew and the managers, I'm just so proud of them."
DuCharme said a supervisor went to the window and tried to stall Stephens by telling him that his order of fries would need more time to cook.
Stephens took his six-piece Chicken McNuggets and declined to wait for the fries, however. Police caught up with Stephens shortly after the exchange, and, following a brief chase, Stephens shot and killed himself, according to officials.
It's not yet clear if the McDonald's employees will receive any of the $50,000 offered by the FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshal Service, but law enforcement officials told TMZ that the workers were crucial in tracking down Stephens.
A growing chorus of social media users, however, feel the workers should be rewarded:
