While the suspect's food was being prepared, police said he became more agitated and verbally abusive toward employees and later shot the teen.

Police on Monday continued to search for a suspect who they said fatally shot a teenage Waffle House employee in North Carolina.

Family said the teen, identified by police as Burlie Dawson Locklear, had recently graduated from high school.

The shooting took place Friday at one of the restaurant chain’s locations in Laurinburg, a city in Scotland County near the South Carolina state line.

Just before 12:45 a.m., Laurinburg Police Department officers responded to a shots fired call at the store specializing in waffles and other breakfast foods.

The shooting suspect, police said in a news release, had fled the scene by the time officers arrived.

Inside the restaurant, officers found an 18-year-old Waffle House employee, later identified as Locklear, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Locklear was taken to a hospital where he later died, police said.