Children of Columbia man killed sue Waffle House, security guard

The mother of Anthony Warren’s three children is suing a Columbia Waffle House and the private security guard that shot him there.

Attorneys for Passion Hambright, the mother of Warren’s three minor children, filed the wrongful death lawsuit on Wednesday morning. It claims the security guard, identified only as “R.M.,” was reckless in shooting Warren at the restaurant. Columbia police said the guard feared for his safety after breaking up a fight between two other people just before the shooting.

Prosecutors signed off on an arrest warrant for Matthew McMillan, charging him with felony murder and first-degree assault. McMillan, according to prosecutors, pulled out a gun at the Waffle House, leading to a struggle between he and another man. That’s when the security guard came in with his gun drawn, according to Columbia police.

The lawsuit claims the security guard “negligently discharged a loaded firearm in the direction of Warren without provocation or reason and without acting in self-defense.”