Chuck E. Cheese: Alive And Kicking?

Chuck E. Cheese is a character created by the American restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese's, known for its pizza and entertainment for children. On December 14, 1993, a tragic event occurred when a former employee of a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant in Aurora, Colorado, opened fire, killing four employees and injuring a fifth. This incident, known as the Chuck E. Cheese Massacre, sparked widespread media attention and raised concerns about public safety and the punishment of violent criminals. The perpetrator, 19-year-old Nathan Dunlap, was sentenced to death, but his sentence has been commuted to life in prison without parole as of 2020. The shooting has also inspired various forms of media, including the popular horror franchise Five Nights at Freddy's.

The 1993 Chuck E. Cheese shooting

On December 14, 1993, four employees were shot and killed, and a fifth was seriously injured at a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant in Aurora, Colorado. The perpetrator, 19-year-old Nathan Dunlap, was a former employee of the restaurant who had been fired five months prior. Dunlap was frustrated about his termination and sought revenge by carrying out the attack. He entered the restaurant at 9:00 p.m., ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, and played an arcade game. He then hid in a restroom and, after closing at 10:05 p.m., emerged and shot five employees with a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

The victims were identified as Sylvia Crowell, 19, Ben Grant, 17, Margaret Kohlberg, 50, and Colleen O'Connor, 17. All five employees died from gunshots to the head. Kohlberg, the store manager, was forced to unlock the safe by Dunlap before he shot her in the ear. When Kohlberg was still moving, Dunlap fired a second fatal shot through her other ear. Dunlap fled the scene with $1,500 worth of cash and game tokens.

Bobby Stephens, 20, was the lone survivor of the shooting. He had been on a smoke break outside and returned to the restaurant as Dunlap was shooting his colleagues. Stephens walked into the restaurant and began unloading utensils into the dishwasher when Dunlap came through the kitchen door, raised his handgun, and fired a shot that struck Stephens in the jaw. Stephens fell to the floor and played dead, after which he escaped through a back door and alerted someone at a nearby apartment complex that he and others had been shot.

Dunlap was arrested at his mother's apartment twelve hours later. He was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, and burglary in 1996 and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. However, in 2020, after Colorado abolished the death penalty, Dunlap's sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole.

The perpetrator, Nathan Dunlap

On December 14, 1993, 19-year-old Nathan Dunlap, a former employee of Chuck E. Cheese's in Aurora, Colorado, shot and killed four employees and seriously injured a fifth. Dunlap was frustrated about being fired from the restaurant five months prior to the shooting and sought revenge. He fled the scene with $1,500 worth of cash and game tokens. Dunlap was arrested at his mother's apartment twelve hours later.

Dunlap was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, and burglary in 1996. He was initially sentenced to death by lethal injection on May 17, 1996, with an execution date set for August 2013. However, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed a temporary reprieve, postponing Dunlap's execution. In 2020, after Colorado abolished the death penalty, Dunlap's sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole. He remains incarcerated at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City.

Dunlap had a troubled past and a history of mental health issues. He had attempted suicide multiple times during his junior high school years and had been diagnosed with hypomania. He had a criminal record, including several armed robberies at the age of fifteen and drug dealing. Dunlap's lawyers argued that his mental health issues and history of child abuse were not properly considered during his trial. They claimed that his trial attorneys were ineffective and negligent for not presenting a defence based on his mental illness.

Dunlap's case sparked a statewide debate about how to punish society's worst criminals and the role of the death penalty in Colorado. While some advocated for Dunlap's execution, others, including groups like the NAACP, requested that his life be spared, arguing that the death penalty is disproportionately imposed on African Americans and Hispanics. The debate around Dunlap's case reflected the complexities and controversies surrounding capital punishment in the United States.

The victims of the shooting

On December 14, 1993, four employees were shot and killed, and a fifth was seriously injured at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Aurora, Colorado. The perpetrator, 19-year-old Nathan Dunlap, was a former employee of the restaurant who had been fired five months prior. Dunlap was frustrated about his termination and sought revenge by carrying out the attack. He entered the restaurant at 9:00 p.m., ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, and played an arcade game. He then hid in a restroom and, after closing, shot five employees with a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

The first victim was Sylvia Crowell, 19, who was cleaning the salad bar. She was shot from close range in the right ear and died from her injuries. Ben Grant, 17, was fatally shot near the left eye as he was vacuuming. Colleen O'Connor, 17, was shot once through the temple and killed. Bobby Stephens, 20, the lone survivor of the shooting, had been on a smoke break outside and, upon returning, was shot in the jaw by Dunlap. Stephens fell to the floor and played dead, then managed to escape through a back door and seek help. The final victim was Marge Kohlberg, 50, the store manager. Dunlap forced her to unlock the safe, shot her in the ear, and then fired a second fatal shot when he noticed she was still moving. Kohlberg was a mother of two children.

The shooting had a devastating impact on the victims' families and loved ones, as well as the sole survivor, Stephens. The families of the victims and Stephens himself expressed their pain and anger over the temporary reprieve given to Dunlap by Governor Hickenlooper, which delayed his execution indefinitely. Bobby Stephens told KRDO TV, "It's not fair." The father of Sylvia Crowell, Bob Crowell, stated that the governor's decision resulted in backdoor clemency. The mother of Colleen O'Connor, Jodie McNally-Damore, shared her hope that Dunlap would avoid execution, saying, "I think that he deserves to stay exactly in the hole that he's in, and let him suffer and think about what he did. Let him rot."

The death sentence

Chuck E. Cheese is alive and kicking, but the same cannot be said for five of its employees, who were shot in one of its restaurants in Aurora, Colorado, in 1993. The perpetrator, 19-year-old former employee Nathan Dunlap, was frustrated about being fired and sought revenge. He killed four employees and seriously injured a fifth, Bobby Stephens, who played dead and later escaped through a back door. Dunlap was arrested at his mother's apartment 12 hours later.

Dunlap was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, and burglary. On May 17, 1996, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. However, his execution date, initially set for August 2013, was postponed when Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed a temporary reprieve.

The temporary reprieve, with no time limit, meant that as long as Hickenlooper remained governor, Dunlap's execution would be blocked. In 2018, Jared Polis was elected governor, and in 2020, he commuted Dunlap's sentence to life in prison without parole after Colorado abolished the death penalty.

Dunlap's case sparked a statewide debate about how to punish society's worst criminals and ignited a wave of anger. While some, including the sole survivor of the shooting, wanted Dunlap to be executed, others, like the mother of one of the victims, hoped he would avoid execution, believing that life in prison without parole was a more suitable punishment.

The sole survivor, Bobby Stephens

The sole survivor of the 1993 Chuck E. Cheese shooting in Aurora, Colorado, was 20-year-old Bobby Stephens. Bobby Stephens was picking up extra hours at the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant where he worked when Nathan Dunlap, a 19-year-old former employee, entered the restaurant to rob it and take revenge for being fired five months prior. Dunlap shot and killed four employees: Sylvia Crowell, 19; Ben Grant, 17; Colleen O'Connor, 17; and Margaret Kohlberg, 50. He also shot Bobby Stephens in the face, but Stephens survived by playing dead.

Stephens, who was shot in the jaw, escaped through a back door and walked to the nearby Mill Pond apartment complex, where he alerted someone that he and others had been shot. He was hospitalized at Denver General Hospital in fair condition. Stephens has expressed frustration over the governor's decision to grant a temporary reprieve of Dunlap's execution, stating that he feels blindsided and that Dunlap has received more rights and privileges than the victims' families or himself. He has also shared his support for the death penalty, believing that it is the only true justice in a case like this.

The shooting had a significant impact on Stephens, who has had to relive the traumatic event each time he speaks about it. In an interview, he expressed his frustration, stating that it reopens wounds every time he is reminded of the incident. He also emphasized his disappointment with the legal system, referring to the delays in Dunlap's execution as a "political, judicial circus."

Bobby Stephens' experience as the sole survivor of the Chuck E. Cheese shooting has left him with physical and emotional scars. He has had to cope with the trauma of being shot and witnessing the deaths of his colleagues. Additionally, he has had to endure the prolonged legal process and the ongoing media attention surrounding the case. Stephens' resilience and strength in the face of this tragedy are commendable, and he continues to advocate for justice and closure for himself and the families of the victims.

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