Episode 1 Part 2: Survivor Bryant Archer: A Chilling Tale of Tragedy and Resilience - Living After Taking 5 Bullets - Popeye's Chicken, Gadsden, AL -1994

Imagine surviving the unimaginable. Bryant Archer, the lone survivor of the 1994 Popeyes shootings in Gadsden, Alabama, joins us to recount the chilling tale of the day that forever changed the lives of many. His narrative not only paints a haunting picture of the events but also offers a humanizing glimpse into his relationships with his late colleagues, including his manager Darrell Collier, and the normalcy that preceded the tragedy. Bryant's voice brings us closer to understanding the complex emotions and the raw struggle for survival he faced on that fateful night, providing a powerful tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.

Beyond the nightmare lies a journey of healing and seeking justice—a path riddled with obstacles, from grappling with grief to dealing with the repercussions of having survived. Bryant's candid discussion of the days following the shootings exposes the harsh reality of navigating through the aftermath of violence, including the legal complexities and the unwanted attention that comes with such a high-profile case. His experience, marked by the need for police protection and the weight of public scrutiny, underscores the profound effects of tragedy on personal lives and communities. Join us as we peer into the heart of a man who, against all odds, continues to search for closure and peace.

Transcript

Joseph Cramer: 0:02

I'm here today interviewing the only survivor, Bryant Archer, in the 1994 Popeyes shootings of Gadsden, Alabama. Bryant, how long did you work at Popeyes before the shooting? I?

Bryant Archer: 0:12

worked there about four months.

Joseph Cramer: 0:14

Bryant, there were four of you working there that night, including yourself. Could you tell me a little more about your relationship with store manager Darrell?

Bryant Archer: 0:20

Collier. I only worked with him one night. I'd actually seen him in Rainbow City several times at the other store. He was really nice. I never had any issues with him. Sadly, it was his only night to ever work there, so he became the manager there that night.

Joseph Cramer: 0:42

How would you describe your relationship with assistant manager Tamika Collins?

Bryant Archer: 0:48

She was a couple grades ahead of me, so I was a junior in high school then. She was always really nice. She never gave me any trouble. She was always nice as far as smiling, never had any complaints. She was just a good person. She never gave anybody any issues. Her family was really good too, because they'd come in a lot.

Joseph Cramer: 1:11

What about your relationship with co-worker Nathaniel Baker?

Bryant Archer: 1:14

I went to school with him. I had English with him. Sadly, we got kicked out of English a lot. I wasn't the nicest person in school. We'd put tacks and all kinds of things in her chair when she sat down. It didn't take a whole lot to get kicked out of English. That's pretty much how that played out.

Joseph Cramer: 1:33

Was everyone who worked that night scheduled to be there?

Bryant Archer: 1:35

I believe so. We had one lady that was in front. I didn't know who she was real well. I think she had transferred from time when she was there, but I didn't know her real well. But everybody was scheduled to be there.

Joseph Cramer: 1:48

I'm mainly asking this because there are some conflicting issues about prom and people swapping schedules at that time.

Bryant Archer: 1:59

They did. I actually was supposed to go to prom the night of the shooting Ended up. Things didn't work out and I ended up with a tux out of my house and I was went to work to recoup my losses.

Joseph Cramer: 2:08

Now can you unfold that entire day leading all the way up into the incident?

Bryant Archer: 2:11

I can. I got there about four o'clock. The power was out. Power didn't turn back on to about eight o'clock. We didn't have any customers due to the bad weather that we had had. Even the road in front of us was flooded. There was no passing traffic or anything like that. There was no way to. But the power was on. We went ahead and cleaned up the store and got ready for the next day. We officially closed at 1130. Nathaniel went to the back with the round trash from the back and I went to the front and got the lobby trash trash from the restrooms and I was going back through and when I came around the corner, that's when Nathaniel was walking back but the other two that was with him I didn't know.

Bryant Archer: 3:05

Robert Bryant Nelson he was the actual shooter in this case Prada. He's got a real weird name. I can only say his last name, but it's really weird. He worked there about three weeks so I knew who he was. But as far as interacting with him he didn't have a whole lot. But as far as interacting with him he didn't have a whole lot. Mainly when I worked he was off and when I was off he worked. So there really wasn't much interaction. I seen him. I seen them both with bandanas on and he had a distinctive haircut where his hair was shaved up past his ears. So we knew who he was immediately and I hate to say it, but that's pretty much the reason why the shooting took place, because we could identify him as I was coming around there and I seen Nathaniel Tameka.

Joseph Cramer: 4:06

Collins and.

Bryant Archer: 4:06

Daniel, I got it. Darryl, darryl, collier came around also. They had the money to go in the office, so pretty much everything just happened right then and there we all got put in the office, the robbery took place, where the money went in the bag, and then we got escorted to the freezer and the freezer shut. I was the first one in and I can't remember exactly who was behind me, but all three came behind me. The door shut, I figured 15 minutes later or whatever the time frame was, they were going to run off. When the door shut, I went and sat on a crate and when I sat on the crate the door reopened and that's when I seen the muzzle flash and I seen them go down. But I didn't know exactly what took place because I've never seen anything like this before. I didn't know they were deceased.

Bryant Archer: 5:03

When I something, when I got shot, I went to go up to get some beans out of a plastic bag that was frozen to throw, and when I went to go do that, I got hit in the left arm. I went to try again and I got hit in the shoulder and I don't remember trying to do it the third time. But I got hit in the neck and then I could feel the sensation of getting hit in the face, but I didn't know exactly what the but it took my jaw and split it in half. Top teeth were out, back teeth were out and it came out of the side of my neck and the one in my right arm is from where they had shot one of the other coworkers and it went through my arm. I seen them run off.

Bryant Archer: 5:49

I got up sometime later. I can't really determine what the time frame was, but I got up and I stepped over my coworkers. I didn't know if they were injured, I really didn't know exactly. I knew we needed to get help, so I went to the office and I dialed 911. And when I did, I slid down to the floor and I put my feet out of the office in case someone was to come in and they could see that I was there. I heard the door. I heard the police come. I seen Billy Vassar and we started talking back and forth. I didn't know exactly what my injuries were. I really didn't know exactly what all the shooting had taken. Luckily I didn't decease from this shooting. He's talking to me. I see the other police officer pass and that's when he seen that the other co-workers are not in the freezer.

Joseph Cramer: 6:47

And now, with all five of your senses, what did you taste, feel, smell, see and hear during the sentencing?

Bryant Archer: 6:52

I could taste the, the iron from from the blood in my mouth. I could the what I could see during the shooting. You could still smell the sulfur from where the gun had went off and I didn't really feel anything. My adrenaline was up. I didn't know exactly what to do. I just knew that I needed to get help, and that's when the police came in.

Joseph Cramer: 7:26

What do you feel was the overall motive of this crime?

Bryant Archer: 7:30

They were going to rob us. What I understood later is that he was trying to get money to get out of town, and both of them were done the robbery for that purpose Before the crime?

Joseph Cramer: 7:43

do you know where they were set up or stationed? To get into the building?

Bryant Archer: 7:46

Well, from what I understand, he had worked there about three weeks and what I gather, he had learned everything. When the back door was open, when they'd done the drops in the office, he was there and he learned everything. The time frame when the garbage was taken out, he pretty much just was there to do the robbery.

Joseph Cramer: 8:10

And Brian, you were 17 when this happened. Can you tell me how this affected your day to day, your life, your family, your loved ones and your overall health?

Bryant Archer: 8:18

Well, I was going to join the military, so that was going to be my way out of town. I'm not from Gadsden, I'm not from Alabama, I'm originally from North Carolina. The way I feel about it, I was wanting to get in the military, to get out of here, and, with the shooting taking place, that didn't happen.

Joseph Cramer: 8:38

Now your other three co-workers were shot and left inside of the freezer and you were rushed to RMC. Can you tell me about your overall stay and what went on?

Bryant Archer: 8:46

When I got there I was in the ER and as I was sitting there I could feel the tightening of my esophagus and I couldn't get a nurse because I couldn't speak. But I started kicking my legs. And when I kicked my legs that's when they realized there was something wrong and that's when I done the. So they had to put a trach down my throat. I remember going through all the x-rays and trying to figure out what to do. I had multiple surgeries. Every time I'd have a surgery I'd wake up ready for the next one.

Bryant Archer: 9:25

I had a bullet lodged in my back shoulder. I had to have that removed. Sadly it tore most of the muscles out of my shoulder. When they went in to take that I can't really feel a whole lot in my shoulder anymore and when I do it's pretty much the, the ow. Hey, that's not a good idea to move around. All the doctors and nurses I had were great. I don't think they really understood kind of what happened per se, but I did get good treatment at Gadgin Regional Of course it's a different name now- Was there anything going on behind the scenes, so to speak, while you were inside of the hospital?

Bryant Archer: 10:07

Well, they put me up somewhere where the news people couldn't get to me. With that being said, the news people would try everything they could to get up into my room, trachs down my throat. I can't talk to nobody. I think they even tried to tell them that and that still didn't. Still didn't do anything. They still tried. Um phone rang non-stop. I find they finally cut the phone off. The uh, I had a morphine drip. Every time I'd see somebody, I'd just hit it, hit it and when I'd wake up then I'd see somebody else, and that's just the way it was. I was there seven days. Every time I'd wake up by the seventh day I was ready to get out. I wasn't fully healed from the shooting from that point, but the aggravation of people trying to get to me and trying to do things that I didn't really understand. The hospital really couldn't handle that kind of stuff. So it was in my best interest to leave the hospital.

Joseph Cramer: 11:21

How did you feel about the sentence of execution being handed down to Robert Bront Nelson, and were you there for those trials?

Bryant Archer: 11:27

I was there for the trial it was two years after the shooting. Parada's court case was done beforehand and with Melson there was a lot of stuff that was brought up that really didn't make a whole lot of sense in court. They tried to make it to where I hate to say that the way it sounds, but they tried to make it lesser than it was. They tried to use every escape they could to avoid the death penalty and I understand the legal part of it. It's just when you see that and you know what happened because of what I've seen, and you know what happened because of what I've seen, I just don't the way the legal system is set up. It makes it look like the victim or the survivor has no more rights. But the sad reality is we all have the same rights, we just don't use them, and his lawyers used everything they could to try to get him out of it.

Joseph Cramer: 12:40

And what about the sentence of life in prison for Pereira? Do you think he actually deserved death?

Bryant Archer: 12:48

I believe if they would have gave him the death penalty, there would be somebody alive today. He killed someone in prison. Now he's on death row. So in my opinion, if he was given the proper sentence, that person would most likely be alive today.

Joseph Cramer: 13:03

If you could give any advice to anyone that has gone through the impact of losing loved ones or co-workers in a tragic way such as this, what advice would you give to them?

Bryant Archer: 13:11

First off, you can't help what happens in your life. The best thing you can do is keep living your life. The best thing you can do is keep living. I know it's not easy, but the fact of the matter is you can't just stop because something bad happens. And, with that being said, if you're, if you're not being a part of society, you're just not going to be going to be able to deal with day-to-day life. And that's what I do. I live my life every day. Every day I get up, every day I go to bed. If I'll get another day or a week or a year, I'm going to take it. That's the best advice I can give somebody is just you have to keep going.

Bryant Archer: 13:56

I still hear people all the time say I won't eat at that Popeye's because of what happened there.

Bryant Archer: 13:59

What are your thoughts on that? I eat there when I go to Gadsden. Here's the reason why Popeyes didn't have anything to do with the shooting. Now, there's things they could have done to make this not happen, but at the end of the day, there's things that happen every day that you could go back and try to figure out how to solve it, and it's just not Popeyes isn't to blame in the shooting. There's a lot out how to solve it and it's just not Popeye's isn't to blame in the shooting. There's a lot of people that say they don't eat there. Well, you can't hurt a business because of this happening. I myself go there and eat when I'm in Gadsden. So I go there because I know what happened and I know that the people who did this shooting that's one thing they can't rob me of of living my life and the food's good.

Joseph Cramer: 14:46

As far as the shooting went, how do you think they hid or were able to come inside the?

Bryant Archer: 14:49

building. I didn't know after, until after the shooting, exactly what happened outside the building. But there's a Walmart there now, but back then it was just a city, a bunch of houses in the back with a sewer and a waterway, and they parked their car on the road and walked that waterway trench to the back door.

Joseph Cramer: 15:12

Not since Freda has been locked up, he's been able to post online. Can you tell me a little more about that?

Bryant Archer: 15:20

I have called the prison several times over issues of him having a cell phone. People's like how can you get a cell phone? Well, if he can take a picture and you can clearly see it's him on there and the person that's got the cell phone images, you can tell that things aren't quite right there and we've had to deal with that several times. He's still. He has sold his gel art online, which I haven't quite figured that out. You can watch TV and Cheetos while I'm paying for the prescription cost of having and everything else from the shooting, but you're sitting there eating Cheetos watching TV Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Joseph Cramer: 15:59

Now, prego was originally given the sentence of life, which has now been charged to death. What are your thoughts on this?

Bryant Archer: 16:04

I'm probably not going to get to see his execution because he had killed someone else in prison. That's probably not going to happen because it's a totally different outcome for why he's in there, but I'd like to see him. I didn't see Melson because I had young kids. We went on vacation during that time frame to get away from Gadsden and luckily we did, because it became a circus Trying to find me, calling phones, calling all my family members trying to find us. They even found us in Panama City, but luckily the news reporter had got a conscience and just didn't do the interview. Of course I wasn't wanting to do anything per se because I had my family with me. I ended up letting my sister take the interviews while we were gone.

Joseph Cramer: 17:01

Rob, we spoke a few times before we started this interview and I remember you saying that you had anti-death people all over you. Was that during Nelson's trials, or at what point was that going on?

Bryant Archer: 17:10

Every time they'd do an appeal or there'd be something in the paper or I'd do an interview. It wouldn't be a day or so they'd start coming. They'd sit in front of our house, they'd take signs. They'd follow us around everywhere we went, I'd have to call the police. I even had to get Troy King at the time that was Attorney General involved. There was a lot of stuff that took place that really was unnecessary.

Joseph Cramer: 17:37

Sometime after the shooting you were gathered up and put in a witness protection or something of that nature.

Bryant Archer: 17:41

I wouldn't say witness protection per se, but they did move me around. Witness protection per se, but they did move me around. The people who done this shooting was in a gang. I really don't know a whole lot about that. I just know the city of Gadsden had to get involved and have us moved. Our house burned not even three days after we moved out, so they pretty much already knew in advance that things weren't weren't where they were supposed to be. I ended up going to Lopalaca for a while, stayed with my aunt. That didn't stay long. They eventually knew people found us there. So what I did was I went to North Carolina to stay with my sister for a while, and that didn't last long. They started coming there too. We ended up moving over there on South 11th Street after a while with my mother, and it seemed like I had a police officer sleeping on my couch pretty much every night.

Joseph Cramer: 18:43

At that time, while you were in hiding, so to speak, were you afraid that they were going to come find you? Or lurking in the distance? Not per se.

Bryant Archer: 18:51

I just knew that every time we'd have to go somewhere we'd have to have a police escort To me. I'd rather kept it low-key and just went on about my business. But the two years before we had trial it was a circus. Everybody was trying to get his news story, everybody was trying to know what was happening and didn't know who was coming to the house. So pretty much we had to have that.

Joseph Cramer: 19:16

That is all I have at this time. Thank you much for the interview.