A waitress at El Eden restaurant in Miami was shot with a flare gun after she refused to sell alcohol to a customer.

According to one witness, the man was "off his rocker."

Regulars at the restaurant on Southwest 190th Street, like Keith Scanlon kept workers company as they cleaned up broken glass and a cooler set on fire by the flare gun's shell.

Employees told Local 10 it all started when another regular customer came in around 10:30 a.m. Friday, asking for alcohol.

When the waitress denied him, the customers said he went to his truck and came back with paint thinner and a flare gun. He first tried dousing the woman with paint thinner, and then shot the flare gun at least twice. One shell pierced the glass door of a drink cooler. The heat from the flare gun shell charred the drinks and shelves inside. The second shell, workers said, grazed the woman's elbow.

The woman was not seriously injured. She was taken to the hospital and released with a few stitches.

"Well she kind of looked scared, and relieved at the same time, like it could have been her life," said Ferron Hartshorn, who works nearby El Eden. "So she was just sitting there with everyone around her just like, did this really happen?"

Police arrested the suspect at a nearby flea market where they said he turned himself in.

Employees said the waitress is married with two young children and that she's grateful she was able to go home to them Friday night.