El Paso Burger King employee hailed a hero after stopping knife attack

The family of 27-year-old Marco Reyes is calling 18-year-old Seth Gomez a hero after stopping a stabbing attack at a Westside Burger King early Sunday morning.

According to police, 28-year-old Kenneth Casey Frank, a transient, ambushed Reyes and Gomez after they closed the Burger King and left the restaurant for the night.

Reyes’ uncle, Ruben Reyes, told ABC-7, the homeless man basically waited for the employees to exit the restaurant, hid behind a vehicle and then jumped out and started attacking my nephew.

“The young man ran up and got the attacker in a headlock and stopped the attacker from continuing to attack my nephew,” said Reyes.

Ruben said Gomez is a hero for stopping the attack, “I would give him a big hug for having the courage to stop the attack.”

According to police, the Burger King employees called police regarding Frank an hour-and-a-half before the attack.

The Reyes family is questioning why Frank was never forced to leave the Burger King after the first call.

El Paso Police Spokesman Enrique Carrillo told ABC-7: “Officers responded, they spoke with him, ran a warrants check. Given that there was no offense committed, there was nothing he could be charged with, he was sent on his way. Unfortunately, he returned later.”

Carrillo agrees Gomez’s actions my have saved his co-worker’s life. “For the family to call him a hero, I would agree. For somebody to intervene in a circumstance like that, putting themselves in harms way, credit to him.”

Ruben Reyes said Marco is is out of the ICU and is doing better.

Frank was charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault for stabbing the two victims and booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility under a $100,000 bond.