Police say a remark about cigarette smoke led to insults, a punch and three shots inside a Snellville restaurant.

SNELLVILLE, Ga. — A Gwinnett County judge denied bond for a 44-year-old man after police testified that he shot another Chick-fil-A customer in the chest during an April 7 dispute inside a restaurant in suburban Atlanta.

Jamaal Jenkins faces charges of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and reckless conduct. The case moved forward after a preliminary hearing where a Snellville police detective described a brief encounter between two men who authorities say did not know each other. The hearing gave the first detailed public account of how an ordinary wait in line became a shooting case now headed to Superior Court.

The shooting happened at the Chick-fil-A on the 1500 block of Scenic Highway in Snellville, a city in Gwinnett County east of Atlanta. Snellville Police Detective Victor Martinez said Jenkins and the victim were standing in line when Jenkins began speaking to him. “He initiated the conversation with him by telling him that he smelled like cigarette smoke,” Martinez said in court. The detective said Jenkins then called the man a “weirdo” and used a racial slur. Police have not said the men had any contact before that morning, and the victim’s name was not released in the reports reviewed for the hearing.

Martinez testified that the victim punched Jenkins once in the face after the comments. Jenkins then pulled a Glock 42 from his pocket and fired three shots, according to the detective. One round struck the victim in the chest. The detective said Jenkins did not stop after the first shots. Martinez testified that Jenkins chased the wounded man and tried to keep firing, but the handgun malfunctioned. He said the malfunction likely prevented the case from becoming a homicide. Police said Jenkins was still at the restaurant when officers arrived. The public record did not say how many customers or workers were near the men at the moment of the shooting, but prosecutors told the judge the restaurant was crowded enough to make Jenkins a danger to the community.

The defense gave a different view of the same short sequence. Teombre Calland, Jenkins’ attorney, argued that Jenkins acted in self-defense because the other man threw the first punch. Calland told the judge that Jenkins had no felony convictions and was not a flight risk. She said Jenkins would agree to conditions that would keep him away from the victim and away from the restaurant. The defense position placed the punch at the center of the case, while prosecutors focused on the decision to draw a gun and fire inside a public restaurant. The judge did not decide guilt at the hearing. The question was whether enough evidence existed to move the charges forward and whether Jenkins should be released while the case continues.

The court sided with prosecutors on both points. The judge bound over all three charges to Gwinnett County Superior Court and denied bond, leaving Jenkins in the county jail. A preliminary hearing is an early stage in a criminal case, and its finding does not mean a defendant has been convicted. Prosecutors still must carry the case through formal proceedings, and Jenkins remains presumed innocent unless proved guilty. The next court date was not listed in the reports reviewed. The charges carry separate claims: aggravated assault for the alleged shooting, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime for the gun use and reckless conduct for conduct authorities say endangered others.

The reported facts also center on the handgun. Martinez identified it in court as a Glock 42, a small pistol that police say Jenkins carried in his pocket. The detective testified that Jenkins fired three times before the malfunction. Authorities did not publicly release the condition of the weapon after the shooting or say whether investigators recovered shell casings, surveillance video or the gun itself in the details available from the hearing. The number of shots, the chest wound and the alleged chase were the key pieces of testimony prosecutors used to argue that Jenkins’ conduct went beyond a response to being hit. The victim’s medical condition after the shooting was not detailed in the hearing reports, but Martinez said the gun failure may have saved his life.

The restaurant setting added weight to the bond argument. Prosecutors said the shooting happened with other people inside, turning a line for food into a scene where customers and employees could have been struck. The public details do not say whether the restaurant closed after the shooting, how long police remained on scene or whether employees gave statements. The location on Scenic Highway sits in a busy commercial corridor in Snellville, where breakfast and lunch traffic can place strangers close together in lines and at counters. The testimony suggested the encounter unfolded quickly, moving from a comment about cigarette smoke to an insult, a punch, gunfire and an alleged chase.

No motive beyond the exchange in line was given in court. Police said the two men were strangers, and no prior dispute was described. The allegation that Jenkins used a racial slur is part of the testimony, but the available reports did not say whether any hate crime allegation had been filed. The case, as described in court, remains built around the three criminal charges tied to the shooting. The defense may continue to press its self-defense claim in later proceedings, while prosecutors are expected to rely on the detective’s testimony about the shots, the chase and the malfunction. Any later indictment, plea discussion or trial setting would come through Superior Court.

The case now stands in Superior Court, with the next listed hearing date still unknown as of Wednesday. Jenkins remained in the Gwinnett County Jail without bond after the hearing.

Author note: Last updated May 27, 2026.