North Hills restaurant shooter dies in hospital, police say. What we know about him
The man who shot two coworkers, killing one of them before turning the gun on himself Friday at a North Hills restaurant, has died, Raleigh police said early Sunday morning.
Executive chef George Colom, 34, walked into his workplace, Coquette Brasserie at 4351 The Circle at North Hills, just before it opened for lunch Friday and fatally shot 26-year-old Jonathan Mark Schaffer, police said. A bystander, Jonathan Aguilar Vega, 24, was also shot. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a hospital and released, police said.
Colom suffered critical injuries and was taken to the hospital, where he died Saturday.
Police have not released a motive for the shooting, but said Colom and Schaffer knew each other and it was not a random incident. On Sunday, police said additional information will be released “at the appropriate time.”
Colom’s father, George Colom Sr., released a statement to media following his son’s death.
“My family is saddened by the loss of Mr. Schaffer and we grieve for his family. We also share the pain with Mr. Aguilar. We are focused on our own son right now and want our privacy respected during this time,” he said. “We just want to bury our son in peace. No further questions or comments will be addressed.”
Schaffer’s LinkedIn profile says he has been a manager with Urban Food Group since February 2024. He was a graduate of the Wake Technical Community College culinary program and had worked as an executive chef, cook and server in several Wake County restaurants, it said.
Aguilar told WRAL in an on-camera interview at the scene Friday that he and other employees were in a staff meeting when Colom started shooting around 10:57 a.m. He does not know a motive for the shooting, Aguilar said.
Several schools were put into lockdown and businesses closed for the day as police flooded the area.
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson called the shooting a “troubling event” at a news conference Friday.
Mayor Janet Cowell, who was attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., told ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner the shooting was tragic.
“I’m talking to other mayors, and unfortunately, these incidents seem to be happening right across the country,” she said in a live interview. “Raleigh is not alone in these issues, but again, we will do everything we can to keep Raleigh a safe community, to predict and prevent these kinds of situations.”
George Colom, executive chef at North Hills restaurant Coquette Brasserie, has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a Raleigh hospital, police said.
Who was the shooter George Colom?
Colom served as executive chef for Coquette, according to a previous version of the website for Urban Food Group, the company that owns the restaurant. Colom’s name was on the website as late as Friday morning, but had been removed by Friday afternoon.
Urban Food Group owns Coquette and several other restaurants, including Vivace, also at North Hills.
In October, Colom posted on Instagram about starting his new job.
He had several previous convictions involving firearms, court records show.
In April 2011, he was sentenced in federal court in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after being convicted of possessing a stolen firearm. Colom was not allowed to possess firearms because of previous convictions for receiving stolen property and stealing an automobile in New Mexico, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Kenneth J. Gonzales.
According to his LinkedIn page, Colom moved to Chapel Hill in 2017.
On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty in Orange County to a charge of leaving the scene of a car accident that caused property damage, court records show. He was fined $193, according to his sentencing order.
Colom lived in Onslow County before moving to New Mexico, according to public records. His last address was in Carrboro, but neighbors at the apartment complex told The News & Observer he was not the current resident. Although they had seen a man around the apartment, they did not know him.
His job immediately before Coquette was as sous chef at Hawthorne & Wood in Chapel Hill from March 2020 to July 2024, and he had a lengthy history in the Triangle area food industry, according to his LinkedIn page..
He had planned last year to become head chef at Próximo, a new Spanish tapas restaurant on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, according to The Daily Tar Heel. In September, chef Chad Bourgeois was said to be heading the restaurant.
Brandon Sharp, chef and owner of Hawthorne & Wood, Bluebird and Próximo, all of which are in Chapel Hill, released a statement Saturday in response to questions about Colom’s employment.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the shooting that took place in our community Friday morning. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are not able to provide further comment at this time,” Sharp said in the statement.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the Coquette restaurant family, an organizer said.
Police asked anyone with information to call the department at 919-996-335 or to submit a tip to the Crimestoppers website at www.raleighcrimestoppers.org.
Staff writers Brooke Cain, Kyle Ingram and Jessaca Giglio contributed to this report.
