The Dark Side Of Chuck E Cheese: Murders And Mayhem

On December 14, 1993, four employees were shot and killed at a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant in Aurora, Colorado. The perpetrator, 19-year-old former employee Nathan Dunlap, was frustrated about being fired five months prior to the shooting and sought revenge. He hid in the restroom before closing and shot five employees with a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol after they had finished cleaning up the restaurant. Dunlap was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and other charges, and was initially sentenced to death by lethal injection. However, in 2020, his death sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole after Colorado abolished the death penalty.

The perpetrator, Nathan Dunlap, was a former employee

Dunlap exited the restroom at around 10:05 p.m. and proceeded to shoot five employees with a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol. The victims were identified as Sylvia Crowell, 19, Ben Grant, 17, Colleen O'Connor, 17, Bobby Stephens, 20, and Marge Kohlberg, 50. Kohlberg was the store manager, and Dunlap forced her to unlock the safe before shooting her. Dunlap fled the scene with stolen money and restaurant items, including $1,500 worth of cash and game tokens.

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

Dunlap was frustrated about being fired

On December 14, 1993, 19-year-old Nathan Dunlap entered a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant in Aurora, Colorado, armed with a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Dunlap had been fired from the restaurant five months prior, and his frustration over the termination had been building. He had told a former coworker that he planned to "get even" about the firing.

Dunlap's anger and resentment towards the restaurant had reached a boiling point. On the night of the shooting, he first ordered a ham and cheese sandwich and played an arcade game. He then hid in the restroom as the restaurant was closing. At around 10:05 pm, Dunlap emerged from the restroom and began his deadly attack. He shot five employees, four of them fatally, execution-style with shots to the head.

Dunlap's victims included Sylvia Crowell, 19, who was cleaning the salad bar; Ben Grant, 17, who was vacuuming; Colleen O'Connor, 17; and Bobby Stephens, 20, who was the lone survivor of the shooting. Stephens had been on a smoke break outside and returned to the restaurant after the shooting started. As he was unloading utensils into the dishwasher, Dunlap shot him in the jaw. Stephens played dead and managed to escape through a back door, alerting someone at a nearby apartment complex about the shooting.

Dunlap then forced the store manager, 50-year-old Marge Kohlberg, to open the safe. After taking the cash, he noticed that Kohlberg was still moving and fired a second fatal shot through her other ear. Dunlap fled the scene with $1,500 worth of cash, game tokens, and other items from the restaurant. He was arrested at his mother's apartment twelve hours later.

Dunlap's actions were a direct result of his frustration and anger over being fired from the restaurant. His desire for revenge led him to commit a heinous and deadly act of violence that shocked the community and sparked a statewide debate about capital punishment. Dunlap was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and other charges, and was initially sentenced to death. However, his sentence was later commuted to life in prison without parole after Colorado abolished the death penalty.

Four employees were killed

On December 14, 1993, four employees were shot and killed by 19-year-old Nathan Dunlap, a former employee at a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant in Aurora, Colorado. Dunlap was frustrated about being fired five months prior to the shooting and sought revenge. He hid in the restaurant's restroom before closing and, after the other customers had left, shot five employees with a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

Dunlap first shot 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 also killed with a single shot to the temple. Bobby Stephens, 20, returned to the restaurant after taking a smoke break outside during the attack. As he was unloading utensils into the dishwasher, Dunlap shot him in the jaw. Stephens fell to the floor and played dead, then managed to escape through a back door.

Dunlap then forced the store manager, 50-year-old Marge Kohlberg, to unlock the safe. After she opened it, he shot her in the ear. Noticing that she was still moving, he fired a second shot through her other ear. Dunlap fled the scene with $1,500 worth of cash and game tokens. He 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. He was initially sentenced to death by lethal injection, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole in 2020 after Colorado abolished the death penalty.

One employee survived

On December 14, 1993, four employees were shot and killed at a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant in Aurora, Colorado. A fifth employee, 20-year-old Bobby Stephens, survived. The perpetrator, 19-year-old Nathan Dunlap, was a former employee of the restaurant who had been fired five months prior to the shooting and was seeking revenge.

Dunlap entered the restaurant at 9:00 p.m., ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, and played an arcade game. He then hid in the restroom and exited after closing at 10:05 p.m. He shot five employees with a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol, including Stephens, who was shot in the jaw but survived by playing dead.

Stephens was the first person Dunlap encountered when he emerged from the restroom. As Stephens was unloading utensils into the dishwasher, Dunlap came through the kitchen door, raised his handgun, and fired a shot. Stephens fell to the floor and played dead, and Dunlap then forced the store manager, Marge Kohlberg, to unlock the safe. After Kohlberg opened it, Dunlap shot her in the ear. As he was taking the cash out of the safe, he noticed that Kohlberg was still moving, so he fired a second fatal shot through her other ear.

After Dunlap fled the scene, Stephens escaped through a back door and walked to a nearby apartment complex, where he alerted someone that he and others had been shot. He was hospitalized at Denver General Hospital in fair condition. Authorities found two bodies in the restaurant's hallway, a third in a room off the hallway, and the fourth in the manager's office. Sylvia Crowell, who was also shot by Dunlap, was sent to the hospital, where she was declared brain dead and died from her injuries the next day.

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

Dunlap was sentenced to death

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

Dunlap was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and other charges, and was sentenced to death by lethal injection on May 17, 1996. During the trial, Dunlap's attorneys claimed that his mental health issues, including undiagnosed bipolar disorder, were not properly considered. However, his appeals were rejected, and a judge set an execution date for mid-August 2013.

Dunlap's execution was temporarily reprieved when Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed an order postponing it. Hickenlooper's decision was based on concerns about the fairness of Colorado's capital punishment system, rather than compassion or sympathy for Dunlap. This reprieve meant that as long as Hickenlooper remained governor, Dunlap's execution was unlikely to be carried out.

In 2020, Colorado abolished the death penalty, and Dunlap's sentence was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is currently incarcerated at the Colorado State Penitentiary.

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