An Idaho man among two people killed in a mass shooting at a recently opened Idaho In-N-Out restaurant was excited the burger joint had launched a new location but waited to eat there because of the hype, his sister has said as she paid tribute to her “goofball” sibling.
Christopher Claunch, 59, died from his injuries after being caught up in Saturday’s shooting in Twin Falls, his sister Kimberly Castaneda told the New York Times.
Claunch, who worked at the Renaissance Ranch Recovery Center in Rupert, Idaho, and had lived in the state for the past 30 years, made a habit of going to the burger joint when he headed back to visit Castaneda, who lives in Rosamond, California.
He was thrilled when the renowned burger chain opened its Twin Falls location, its fourth in Idaho, on July 24.
Claunch, known affectionately as Toph, told his sister he would delay his visit to the restaurant because of the craze surrounding it.
“You have no idea how surprised I was when I found out he was there,” she told the New York Times.
Castaneda said her brother was “always being a goofball,” reminiscing on the time together at a Fourth of July gathering.
“My silly brother took my headband I was wearing with little tin wheels on it… and he sat with those things on like it was just no big deal,” she said.
Claunch had been sober for two years after struggling with alcoholism, his sister revealed. He also lost his first wife three months after they tied the knot.
Law enforcement has not formally identified any of the victims.
The other person killed was a restaurant employee. Shooter Chad Williams, 24, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after carrying out his rampage.
Seven people were injured – including 62-year-old Tesla driver Terry Dudley, who was shot twice in the back when he was charging his car.
“There are very few people in this world like Terry,” his pal James Palmer said in a fundraiser.
“He is the kind of man who quietly puts others before himself, who works hard, loves deeply, and never hesitates to lend a helping hand. He is tenacious, compassionate, kind hearted, and has a way of making those around him smile, even on their hardest days.”
Palmer described Dudley, a widower and father of four, as the “best employee I have ever had” but said “his value goes far beyond his work.”
“He is loyal, dependable, selfless, and the kind of person every community is better for having.”
Steven Pixley was also shot and he shared a picture of his wound from his hospital bed online.
“He was simply riding his motorcycle by the restaurant when he was struck by a bullet, becoming an innocent victim of a senseless act of violence,” his cousin Tracey Evans said.
Witness Lane Koehn, 34, was waiting at a stoplight near the restaurant when he saw a person with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru. A man with a pistol then fired at the shooter.
He said the shooter fired at least three or four rounds.
Nayeli Rodriguez, 40, of Burley, was inside waiting for food with her daughters when she heard shots from the kitchen.
An employee said it was a shooting and told people to get down. Rodriguez said an older man tried to protect her and her daughters, and they were among the last to run outside.
“We were trying to get as far as we could and some angels let us in their car,” she said. “I left my car there in the parking lot.”
In-N-Out CEO Lynsi Snyder said the worker killed was “taking care of our most important asset – our Customers, and her life was taken by a disgusting human who doesn’t value the lives of others or his own.”
With Post wires
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