Stranger kills toddler at burger bar

A two-year-old boy was killed at a Burger King by a stranger at a table nearby who pulled a gun and shot him in the head for no apparent reason, US police said today.

The gunman fled, but was killed by police after telling them, “shoot me, shoot me”.

Terrified customers and employees scrambled for cover behind the counter and in the kitchen after the gunman opened fire at the restaurant in Pomona, 25 miles east of Los Angeles, on Monday.

“I heard the mother screaming in Spanish ’Why did you do this to my son?”’ said employee Arturo Flores, 22, who was shaking today as he recalled the shooting.

“She was in shock, she saw her son covered in blood.”

The toddler, Osvaldo Martinez, was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Centre, where he later died.

“It appeared to be unmotivated,” Sergeant Joann Crabb said. “Apparently it was totally unprovoked from what witnesses were saying.”

Police were waiting for the results of toxicology tests to determine if the gunman, Daniel Moreno, 24, was under the influence of drugs at the time of the shooting.

Flores said the gunman appeared to be on drugs, adding: ”He killed him just to kill him.”

Moreno and a friend fled the restaurant, but were spotted near a phone booth about a block from the Burger King.

Crabb said officers contacted Moreno at the phone booth, and he told them, “shoot me, shoot me,” Crabb said.

At least one officer used pepper spray on Moreno, but he allegedly pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at officers, prompting them to fire.

“The guy was trying to commit suicide. He wanted to die,” witness Leonard Counce, 50, said.

Moreno’s friend and two others were questioned by police, but released after investigators determined they had no involvement in the shooting.