McD’s worker became a hero
Mike Riley went to work to sell burgers and left a hero.
He has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours with a New Zealand Bravery Decoration for his act of exceptional bravery in a situation of danger.
A police officer, only known as Officer S, has also received a bravery award for the same incident when an agitated Pera Smiler, 25, walked into Upper Hutt McDonald’s on September 8, 2015 with a .303 rifle.
Riley, a McDonald’s manager, then aged 34, was out the back when a staff member screamed that a man with a gun had came in and Riley’s first steps, of many, to heroism were taken.
He walked to the counter where Smiler aimed his gun at him and demanded everyone leave the building, then fired a shot into the ceiling.
‘‘I could see my staff on the floor crying, I could see my close friend on the phone to her partner ... I decided I would try to talk to [Smiler],’’ Riley told Stuff.
What transpired next saw Riley getting staff and customers out of the building, stopping a father and daughter coming back in from the playground, checking the toilets to see if anyone else was left inside, then, remarkably, offering to cook the gunman a burger.
As he walked from place to place, checking it was clear, he had Smiler - alternating between high-agitation and calm - yelling behind him, often with a gun on him, sometimes aimed at his head, and hinting that things could end badly.
‘‘I just said, ‘I have a son and I want to go home and see him’. I think that resonated with him.’’
These days Riley who now works in recruitment, just has sympathy for Smiler and his family. Riley believed Smiler did not want to hurt anyone but planned to get killed by police that day.
‘‘He wanted everyone out of the restaurant because he wanted to do what he wanted to do. That was the way he was feeling at the time, and that is really sad.’’
As the restaurant cleared, Smiler said he wanted some- thing to eat. ‘‘I offered to make it but his mind changed and he just wanted me out,’’ Riley said. He was out, but Riley’s job wasn’t done. He got staff a safe distance from the restaurant, stopped customers entering - including putting a cone over the drive through - then dragged a woman who had just had a hip replacement a safe distance to shelter.
All the time, an agitated, armed Smiler was walking in and out of the restaurant as police arrived.
Smiler was shot and killed by police and Riley walked past the body soon after.
‘‘You don’t want to see someone getting killed. It was sad to think he was going through all that stuff ... having a [preschool- aged] kid myself I have a lot of sympathy for him and his family. ‘‘I just hope they are OK.’’ What followed for Riley was a long police debriefing, till he finally got home at the end of a remarkably-heroic day.
‘‘I was able to see my son and give him a big hug and kiss, and put him to bed.
‘‘I had a shower and went to sleep.’’