Some of New York City’s finest spent much of Monday evening believing that they had fallen victim to a milkshake poisoning.
The allegedly venomous milkshakes were served at a lower Manhattan Shake Shack, where three officers immediately fell ill after consuming the frothy beverages.
Unions representing NYPD officers immediately took umbrage at the milkshake-provoked disturbance, which saw the three officers immediately hospitalized.
New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch released a statement saying “when New York City police officers cannot even take meal without coming under attack, it is clear that environment in which we work has deteriorated to a critical level.”
#BREAKING When NYC police officers cannot even take meal without coming under attack, it is clear that environment in which we work has deteriorated to a critical level. We cannot afford to let our guard down for even a moment. pic.twitter.com/fbMMDOKqbV
— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) June 16, 2020
The Detectives’ Endowment Association took it a step further, directly accusing the Shake Shack employees of having “intentionally poisoned” the officers with “a toxic substance, believed to be bleach.”
?URGENT SAFETY MESSAGE?
Tonight, three of our fellow officers were intentionally poisoned by one or more workers at the Shake Shack at 200 Broadway in Manhattan. Fortunately, they were not seriously harmed. Please see the safety alert⤵️ https://t.co/D8Lywivhdu— Detectives' Endowment Association (@NYCPDDEA) June 16, 2020
But the concerns were all for nought.
The officers were reportedly discharged from the hospital on Tuesday.
The NYPD’s detectives themselves opened an investigation, only to discover that the issue was not poisoning.
After a thorough investigation by the NYPD’s Manhattan South investigators, it has been determined that there was no criminality by shake shack’s employees.
— Chief Rodney Harrison (@NYPDDetectives) June 16, 2020
Rather, the investigation reportedly found, the incident was likely due to cleaning bleach accidentally staying on the milkshake machine.
Shake Shack expressed relief in a tweet.
Our team is working hard to get the full picture. In the meantime, we’re relieved to hear the officers are all okay. https://t.co/rjJYFSYjZc
— SHAKE SHACK (@shakeshack) June 16, 2020
