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Footage shows Ohio lawyer try to shoot his ex-wife at point-blank range in restaurant as waiter’s actions are praised
A shocking video shared online showed the moment an Ohio lawyer allegedly tried to shoot his ex-wife at point-blank range inside a crowded restaurant.
Matthew Exton, 43, walked into the restaurant in Toledo, Ohio, on April 11, 2025, where his ex-wife was sitting at a table with others.
According to TMZ, prosecutors said Exton initially sent a drink to his ex-wife's table and spat toward her family before leaving the restaurant.
He then returned carrying a loaded gun and headed directly toward the table.
A clip of the scary incident shows Exton pointing the weapon at his ex-wife and apparently trying to fire it.
The gun did not discharge because the safety appeared to still be engaged, an arrest warrant stated.
Exton then "brought the weapon closer to manipulate the safety in what appeared to be an attempt to fire the weapon," cited by PEOPLE.
Before he could try again, a waiter immediately tackled him, and other patrons quickly rushed in to help restrain him.
"The gun had one round in the chamber and seven others in the magazine," Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office stated.
Exton's ex-wife later told police that he had pointed the weapon at her chest and pulled the trigger multiple times.
"The gun made rapid 'click' noises as he pulled the trigger," she wrote in an April 13, 2025, statement included with a petition for a protection order, per NBC News.
Prosecutor praises restaurant 'heroes'
Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney Julia R. Bates described the incident as an attempted "public execution" and praised the restaurant staff and customers who intervened.
"Nothing in their training and soft openings at the restaurant could have prepared the staff for what walked through that door," Bates said in a statement. "The defendant did not come with the intention of having a meal. He came with anger in him and with the intention to commit a public execution of his ex-wife at the restaurant that day."
Exton denied during his trial that he had tried to shoot his ex-wife. "I did not fire... I did not hurt her. I did not try to hurt her," he testified.
He also testified that he had been frustrated by how his ex-wife handled their 2024 divorce and said he became homeless following their split, despite working as a prosecutor in Michigan and practicing law in Ohio.
A jury ultimately found Exton guilty of attempted murder and two counts of felonious assault, with two firearm specifications attached to each of the three counts.
He was acquitted on a remaining felonious assault charge.
Exton's law license was suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court in May 2025, shortly after the restaurant incident.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 21 and could face up to 25 years in prison.
Bates said she hoped the verdict would bring some closure to those caught up in the terrifying confrontation.
"We appreciate the jury’s service this week, and we hope its decision provides some sense of closure for those seated at the table as well as the Sabira employees who were also victimized that day," she said.
"The employees and patrons who stepped in to stop the defendant that day are heroes," she added.