A man recently fired from a Krystal restaurant near Stockbridge is in custody in connection with the Thursday morning robbery and shooting of a restaurant manager and of a police officer who pursued him as he fled.

Marquet Sherman Donald, 21, of Hampton, was taken to the Clayton County police department later in the morning by his father. Donald was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated assault against a police officer, numerous counts of armed robbery, kidnapping, felony obstruction and motor vehicle theft.

John Spink/AJC (ENLARGE)

Employees at the Krystal restaurant in Stockbridge mulled around Thursday morning after the shooting.

Matthew Whitton, a Clayton County officer, was wounded in a shooting after a robbery at Krystal Thursday. The manager at Krystal, Cheryl Alphabet, is in critical condition after being shot in the head.

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The man is accused of shooting Cheryl Alphabet, 49, of Conyers, and Clayton County police Officer Matthew Whitton, who had responded to the robbery scene, said Capt. Greg Dickens.

Alphabet sustained a gunshot wound to her head and was in critical condition in an area hospital Thursday night, police said. If she does not survive, charges against Donald could be upgraded to murder, they said.

Whitton was hospitalized in stable condition and was expected to recover from a wrist wound, police said.

Donald was fired from the Krystal about a week ago, Dickens said. Police did not know why Donald was dismissed or how long he worked there.

Police recovered the 9-mm handgun used to shoot Alphabet, Dickens said. He was not sure if $1,000 taken in the robbery was recovered.

The shootings had prompted a manhunt Thursday morning in the area around the restaurant on Ga. 138 near I-75.

Police described what happened:

Shortly before 2 a.m., a Krystal employee propped open a back door while taking out trash, and a man armed with a handgun slipped into the restaurant through the open door. The suspect demanded money and forced Alphabet and another employee into an office area.

Alphabet was forced to open the store safe, and another employee was ordered to hold a trash bag open while the money was placed inside. The employees were ordered into the walk-in cooler and told to put their cellphones into the trash bag with the money, police said.

A witness "heard a couple of thumps, and a round was discharged," said Clayton police Chief Jeff Turner.

Alphabet was found wounded inside the walk-in freezer, Turner said. She was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center in Atlanta.

The bandit took the money and sped away in Alphabet's Pontiac Sunfire as police were arriving. They chased him to a nearby Kroger parking lot. With the car still moving and officers in pursuit, the man bailed out and ran into woods.

Turner said Whitton, the Clayton officer, encountered the suspect behind the Kroger and was shot in the wrist during a struggle over the officer's gun. The man, who had left his own gun in the car, ran off.

Whitton, 28, who has been on the force for six years, also was taken to Atlanta Medical Center. "The good news is that he's going to be OK," Turner said.