Wisconsin Popeyes fight caught on camera; 7 employees fired

MILWAUKEE -- Several employees at a Wisconsin Popeyes restaurant lost their jobs after a brawl was caught on cellphone video.

The incident happened last Wednesday while customers were inside the restaurant, reports WITI.

Richard Fourté wanted to avoid the drive-thru line and went inside.

"I said to myself, I said, 'Wow, there's a lot of people working here,"' Fourté said.

Soon it went from calm to chaos inside the restaurant.

"I heard one of them yell, 'It's a fight," Fourté said. "They ran to the back by the grills, OK. Now, there was a fight back there. I didn't get that one on tape."

Fourté said tensions were just beginning to mount. Feeling the hostility, he grabbed his cellphone and started recording.

Moments later, a violent fight broke out with several employees throwing punches.

Soon, the situation cooled off and Fourté left empty-handed.

"Honestly, I wasn't even going to get the chicken sandwich," Fourté said.

Milwaukee police responded and no arrests were made. It is unclear what sparked the incident.

Popeye's franchise owner John Broderson released a statement about the incident:

"This was an unfortunate, isolated incident which we take very seriously. The dining room was closed immediately after the altercation at 9:30 p.m. As a result of this, seven employees were terminated from the company, including the manager on duty."