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Shake Shack Worker Held Colleagues at Gunpoint
10 Aug
Summary
- Employee called out sick, then robbed store at gunpoint.
- Manager and employee locked in cooler during the robbery.
- Suspect arrested after vehicle and phone evidence linked him.
Keondre Simmons, a 33-year-old Shake Shack employee, was apprehended by Phoenix police on August 5, 2026, in connection with an armed robbery at his workplace. Simmons had called out sick on August 3, 2026, around midnight, which was earlier than his usual schedule. Later that morning, around 7:30 a.m., a man matching Simmons' description entered the Shake Shack through the delivery door with a handgun.
Simmons allegedly locked one employee in the walk-in cooler before forcing the on-duty manager to open the store safe, from which approximately $2,800 was taken. Both employees were then locked in the cooler. After they managed to escape, Simmons ordered them to kneel in an office and confiscated their cell phones and the office landline, which he submerged in water. He fled the scene in a green Hyundai SUV.
Evidence from surveillance video, including a brief moment where the suspect's mask lowered in a restroom, and analysis of Simmons' phone, which placed him near the Shake Shack during the robbery, led to his arrest. During an interview, Simmons admitted to discarding his robbery attire and revealed the firearm was at his home. Police recovered a firearm similar to the one used and a sum of money from his residence. Simmons cited financial difficulties and his children as reasons for his actions.
