Kriti Mehrotra
José Antonio Ramirez Gonzalez was leaving his third day of work at a McDonald’s in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 23, 1997, when his entire world suddenly turned upside down. The 30-year-old came face-to-face with a man later identified as Paul Reid (or The Fast Food Killer), who went on to force his way inside, steal from the safe, and open fire on the workers. The attacker did not spare the Mexican immigrant, as explored in A&E’s ‘I Survived a Serial Killer: The Fast Food Killer,’ but he thankfully managed to survive on his own willpower.
José Ramirez Gonzalez Still Remembers the Events of that Fateful Night
Although a proud native of Mexico, José Ramirez Gonzalez decided to relocate to the US around the mid-1990s to take on different opportunities and build a better life for his family. He initially dabbled in a few blue-collar jobs in Los Angeles, California, before his brothers and cousins invited him east to Nashville, Tennessee, to work with them in construction. He thus made the move in early spring 1997, only to start working at a local McDonald’s within days to ensure a stable paycheck while he waited for a construction job to open up.
José secured the night shift from 3 am until close, which he worked alongside 17-year-old Andrea Brown, 23-year-old Robert Sewell, and 27-year-old manager Ronald Santiago on March 23. According to his accounts, they completed all their responsibilities as usual and left everything ready for the next morning when it came time for them to lock up. Then, since it was only his third day, the manager told him that he and Robert should go ahead and leave while he stayed back to lock the doors with Andrea before walking her to her ride.
“While I was walking outside behind Robert,” José recalled in the A&E episode. “I see the guy with a gun… I just see the guy moving the gun, telling us to go back to the store.” He was admittedly terrified, so he listened to the order, followed Robert as he joined Ronald, as well as Andrea by the door, and then stepped inside while the gunman came behind them. The latter’s next command was to be shown the office where the restaurant safe was, he claimed, after which they were robbed, led into the back stock room, and forced to lie face down.
José Ramirez Gonzalez Fought For His Life Before, During, and After He Was Stabbed Multiple Times
José can still vividly recall how dark the stock room was, how he could hear Andrea crying, and how Ronald was lying next to him before he began reminiscing on his own life. That’s when he heard the gun and saw bright flashes as it went off, as per records, making him well aware of precisely how many times each of his co-workers was shot. He was the last person the attacker aimed the weapon at, according to court records, so Jose decided to look up while having the nozzle right at his forehead. However, the gun didn’t go off – it either ran out of bullets or malfunctioned.
While the attacker pulled the trigger several times, José claimed, he made the split-second decision to fight for his life and swapped the gun away. According to his statements, what ensued was a struggle between the two men before he suddenly felt a sharp pang in one of his sides and realized he had been stabbed. He still continued to fight, he added, that is, until he felt sharper pains on his other side, was overpowered, and stabbed several more times in the neck and back. He could feel himself growing weak with every passing moment and feel the air leave his lungs, he alleged, so he decided to stop moving and play dead.
José revealed on the show that his pretense worked as he sensed the attacker leave, and it was after he heard the door close that he began crawling to the office, where he knew there was a landline. He continued that he knew he had to call for help as quickly as possible, but it was hard for him to even lift his head, let alone get up, so he slowly crawled until he saw a bunch of wires and pulled. Thankfully, as per his statements, the landline fell in front of him, and he managed to contact the emergency services, who initially went into the store room before following the blood pattern and finding him. He was rushed to the hospital, where it was ascertained that he sustained 17 stab wounds, with one of them going directly into his chest cavity and lungs.
José Ramirez Gonzalez is Proud to Still Work in Construction and Be a Family Man
José’s injuries were so extensive that he underwent 4 surgeries – to his lungs, left arm, head, and back – before regaining consciousness around 2 days later. He couldn’t talk at the time, but there were detectives already waiting for him because he was the sole survivor of the attack. The 30-year-old was scared, worried that the stranger would return to finish the job, but he still contacted the authorities when he could. He didn’t hold back on any detail and then also sat with a sketch artist to help create a composite of the assailant that was later released nationwide. As if that’s not enough, he went through at least 500 or 600 mugshots to see if he could identify anyone, but it wasn’t until June that he identified Paul Reid from a photo lineup.
José was still shaken by the entire ordeal, but he didn’t hesitate when he was asked to testify against Paul during his 1999 trial. By this point, Paul was given the moniker of the Fast Food Killer by the media owing to his similar attacks on 2 other fast food joints. According to records, even though José was grappling with what had transpired, recovering from his injuries, and scared of the man who had almost taken his life, he was steadfast on the stands. Therefore, he played a crucial role in ensuring justice was served.
Since then, the survivor has fully embraced his new normal because he believes that letting his grief, pain, and trauma take over would mean letting Paul win, and he can not have that. So, he is currently happily based in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he is surrounded by his wife and their teenage daughter. On a professional level, though, the 59-year-old is still proudly working in the construction industry, but in the nearby Boston, Massachusetts, area. We should also mention that José was an undocumented immigrant for nearly 25 years, but he is now a full-fledged American citizen, having attained his citizenship without any issues in the summer of 2024.
Read More: Holly Dunn: Where is the Railroad Killer’s Survivor Now?
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