Cashier killed, deputy hurt by man arguing about face mask at Georgia store, cops say
A cashier was killed and a deputy injured after a customer got into a face mask dispute at a Georgia store and then opened fire, officials said.
Victor Lee Tucker Jr., 30, was arguing about masks in the checkout line at a Decatur supermarket before he returned to the business with a gun on Monday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.
“Tucker walked directly back to the cashier, pulled out a handgun and shot her,” investigators said.
He is also accused of shooting at an off-duty DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office deputy who tried to intervene.
“That is what he’s trained to do, that’s part of his 30-year career in law enforcement,” Sheriff Melody Maddox said. “All of us here are trained to intervene and to respond.”
Officials said Tucker and the deputy fired at each other, leaving the two injured. They were in stable condition as of Monday, according to investigators.
The cashier, who wasn’t identified in a news release, was pronounced dead at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Another supermarket worker was “grazed by a bullet” and treated at the scene, officials said.
It happened at Big Bear Supermarket, roughly 10 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta, according to the sheriff’s office.
The DeKalb County Police Department reportedly caught Tucker as he tried to crawl outside the supermarket.
The department “will be taking arrest warrants for Tucker” as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation looks into the case, officials said.
This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 4:49 AM with the headline "Cashier killed, deputy hurt by man arguing about face mask at Georgia store, cops say."
