Big Ed's reopens after family fight; chair thrown and shots fired on Mother's Day

Big Ed's will reopen Wednesday after a fight and shooting inside the popular Raleigh restaurant on Mother's Day. 

Two men facing charges in connection with the shooting appeared in court Tuesday. A judge denied bond for Alexander Barnes, 23, who is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and discharging a firearm within city limits after the weekend fight. Barnes will remain in jail. 

A judge gave the other defendant in the shooting, Jermaine Mitchell, a $25,000 secured bond. Mitchell, 51, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The judge banned Mitchell from contact with the victims involved or with Barnes, who is his stepson. Mitchell went back to jail after Tuesday’s court appearance.

A prosecutor asked the judge to increase Mitchell’s bond to $50,000, but the judge denied it.

On Tuesday, a prosecutor said Mitchell and his stepson, Barnes, got into a fight with another family. Mitchell is accused of throwing a chair, and Barnes is accused of firing shots at the ground.

According to warrants, Barnes and Mitchell share an address in Wake Forest.

“There is a family history there,” the prosecutor said. “Words exchanged led to a fight. After [defendant Jermaine] Mitchell threw a chair, [Barnes] is seen on video and by witnesses pulling out a gun. He pointed [the] gun at a person on the ground, fires three shots [and is] seen putting [the] gun back in [his] waistband.”

According to the prosecutor, when a woman and her party were leaving the restaurant, they walked by Mitchell and Barnes’ table and the parties exchanged words. It led to the fight breaking out.

The prosecutor said Mitchell threw a chair before Barnes punched multiple women in the face and shot at them.

“The three shots [Barnes] fired hit a Big Ed’s manager in the arm,” the prosecutor said. “She was transported to WakeMed.”

WakeMed doctors found a projectile in the manager’s arm after the shooting and fight, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said witnesses heard Barnes say in the parking lot, “I’ll do it again.”

According to the prosecutor, Barnes and Mitchell left the restaurant in a Maserati.

Barnes’ attorney, Alton Williams, explained his perspective.

“You have heard one side of the story,” Williams said. “[Barnes] didn’t point the gun at anyone. If he did, someone would have gotten shot.”

Williams also said Barnes is not a flight risk and asked for a reasonable bond, but the judge denied it.

“What you have seen on TV is dramatic effect,” Williams said of Sunday’s shooting. “What people haven’t seen on TV is that the victims were the aggressors. We are contending that Mr. Barnes and his family were acting in self-defense.”

After the weekend shooting, Big Ed's is planning to reopen at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

Third arrest made in Raleigh restaurant shooting: Woman charged as accessory

On Tuesday, Raleigh police arrested a third person involved in Sunday’s fight and shooting at Big Ed's.

Adrienne Barnes, 48, is charged with felony accessory after the fact and two counts of misdemeanor simple assault.

Raleigh police arrested Barnes on Tuesday along Hammond Road near Chapanoke Road. She is due in court at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Adrienne Barnes lives at the same Wake Forest home as Alexander Barnes and his stepfather Jermaine Mitchell, according to arrest warrants.

It’s not immediately clear what Adrienne Barnes’ relation is to both Alexander Barnes and Jermaine Mitchell.