Madison Burger King Shooting: Injured Manager Lauded As Hero

MADISON, TN -- The 34-year-old Burger King manager critically injured during an armed robbery attempt Monday night is a hero, his co-workers and friends say.

Maurice Farris remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition after he was shot during the robbery bid at the Burger King on Gallatin Pike in Rivergate. Witnesses told police that when a trio of armed masked men entered the restaurant at 11 p.m. Monday, Farris tackled the one in front. That man, 18-year-old Kenneth Jernigan, died from a gunshot wound, which investigators believe he may have sustained during the struggle. The other two suspects immediately fled.

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Farris's heroic act didn't surprise long-time friends and co-workers, who say he's the kind of man who does everything he can for other people.

"We knew he had our back,” Sherri Frazier, who worked with Farris at the Hendersonville Burger King, told Fox 17. “We knew he was there for us. ... I'm so thankful that he was there to stop that. He’s a hero to me, and I'm proud of him.”

Ben Bosher, who grew up with Farris and calls him his brother, told WKRN "it's going to take more than six bullets to put my brother down."

"Things will get better for sure because he's a fighter. He's gonna fight no matter what. I'm hopeful for the best. He'll recover and be the same guy he was before," Bosher said. "My brother to me has always been a hero. It doesn't surprise me that he put himself in harms way to save others because that's just the kind of person he is. He's going to look out for everybody else before he looks out for himself."

Metro Police released surveillance footage of the two others who were with Jernigan. Bosher hopes they're found quickly.

"A gun in your hand doesn't make you a man," he told NewsChannel 5. "These guys need to be caught and step forward or something because my brother is fighting for his life for some cowardly action that someone else did."

Elisa Stokes Farris, Maurice Farris's wife, told WSMV her husband was already her hero and she too hopes the suspects are apprehended soon.

"I hope some justice gets done and they find the people who did it because at the end of the day, he's still fighting for his life," she told the station. "I have to take it one day at a time and pray every day and just hope he gets better."