A cashier was shot dead after asking a man to put a face mask on inside a grocery store.
The female store worker, who has not yet been identified, was killed as she sat behind the till at the Big Bear Supermarket in DeKalb, Georgia, on Monday.
The alleged shooter, Victor Tucker Jr, 30, was arrested at the scene by the FBI after being shot himself by an off-duty police officer who was at the store at the time of the incident.
The off-duty officer, a retired deputy, also suffered gunshot wounds after engaging in a shootout with the suspect, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
The horror unfolded after the cashier asked Tucker to put on a mask while inside the store yesterday afternoon, but after Tucker refused, the pair are said to have gotten into an argument.
Tucker then left the store, according to detectives, but re-entered soon after and allegedly shot the cashier in the head.
She was later pronounced dead at the Grady Memorial Hospital, GBI said in a press release.
The retired deputy, who is a part-time reservist with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, was working as a security guard at the store when Tucker is said to have opened fire.
The cop jumped in and returned fire, Dekalb sheriff’s office spokeswoman Cynthia Williams told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A second cashier was also grazed by a bullet and treated at the scene, according to authorities.
The former deputy was wearing a bullet-proof vest when he was shot and is in a stable condition at the Atlanta Medical Center, according to sheriff Melody Maddox.
Tucker was taken into custody as he tried to crawl out of the front door of the supermarket after being shot, GBI said. He was also taken to the Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment and is in a stable condition, authorities added.
The GBI has confirmed it is conducting an independent investigation into the shooting.
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