Burger King manager murdered in Frederick

FREDERICK, Md. - In a city where you could count the number of homicides each year on one hand, the murder of a worker at a Burger King on a busy street next to a busy highway has left people perplexed.

"You didn't hear about this kind of stuff when we were growing up. A murder was rare. I mean rare," said a lifetime resident, Charles Smith.

"It's got to come down to this just for a couple of bucks? Things are rough everybody, but you don't go around hurting people or taking from them," added his brother, Gary.

But police say, in this case, someone did both.

Officers responded to a 911 call from the victim’s co-worker shortly after five in the morning.

"When officers arrived, we made contact with an employee and a delivery person who found another employee who they believe arrived earlier in the office area suffering from an apparent gunshot wound," said Lt. Clark Pennington of the Frederick Police Department.

Investigators believe when the unidentified manager entered the fast food restaurant, someone must have followed her inside.

"The motivation behind this crime we believe originated with robbery. We think it's a robbery that turned homicide,” said Lt. Pennington, “The investigation is still early. We still gathering as much information as we can. Our detectives are on scene. Our crime scene techs are still on scene. We're collecting the evidence, processing the information and still interviewing anybody in the area that might have seen something."

Police are still trying to determine whether someone knew the victim’s routine and targeted her or whether it was a crime of opportunity.

Because of the store’s location so close to Interstate 70, police don’t know if the killer is still in the area.

If you have any information, you’re asked to call the Frederick Police Department at 301-600-TIPS.