Captain D's Employee Stabbed by Knife-Wielding Suspect in Orlando

Justin Edward Richards walked into a Captain D's restaurant on East Colonial Drive in Orlando around 12:30 p.m. on March 12, 2026, and within minutes had stabbed an employee before fleeing out the door. Orange County deputies arrested him near the scene shortly after.

According to deputies, Richards entered the restaurant at 10414 East Colonial Drive and went directly to the bathroom. When he emerged, he approached an employee while yelling and asking if she wanted to fight, then pulled out a knife and stabbed her in the left side before running north from the building. Deputies said he had entered the restaurant claiming he had killed his girlfriend before launching the attack.

Two customers eating lunch at the time witnessed the assault. Rachel Young saw Richards, wearing a black shirt and a purple backpack, enter the restaurant and head to the bathroom. She watched him come out and confront the employee, and later positively identified Richards as the attacker during a formal identification procedure with law enforcement.

Michelle Cole also observed Richards exit the bathroom with a knife in hand, yelling at employees and a young girl inside the restaurant. Cole attempted to record the incident on her phone. The video she provided to deputies captured a glimpse of Richards fleeing north toward a nearby Aldi's, footage that aided the investigation.

Richards was taken into custody near the scene of the attack. The employee's name and current medical condition were not released. No information on formal charges, booking details, or bond had been made public as of the time of reporting. Captain D's corporate issued no statement, and it remains unclear whether the East Colonial Drive location remained open following the incident.

The alleged statement Richards made upon entering, that he had killed his girlfriend, had not been independently confirmed by deputies in publicly available records, and should be understood as a claim reported by witnesses to law enforcement, not a verified fact.