Michigan security guard fatally shot after telling customer to wear face mask

Three have been charged in the murder of Calvin Munerlyn, 43, over the state-mandated protective gear.

May 4, 2020

A security guard at a Family Dollar in Flint, Michigan was shot and killed after getting into a verbal confrontation with a customer over wearing a state-mandated face mask.

Calvin Munerlyn, 43, died after he was shot on Friday following an argument with a woman identified as Sharmel Teague, according to WXYZ. Munerlyn asked Teague to put on a mask, which is mandatory under state guidelines to protect against the novel coronavirus.

Surveillance video reveals Teague immediately left after the altercation in an SUV. Twenty minutes later, the SUV returned. Two men then entered the store and one of them yelled at Munerlyn for “disrespecting” his wife. The other man then shot him.

Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton identified the men as Sharmel Teague’s husband Larry Teague and her son Ramonyea Bishop. All three of them have been charged with first-degree murder.

https://twitter.com/dsleyton/status/1257375592032415746

“This is senseless. Over a mask. Over a mask?” Munerlyn’s cousin, Tina James, told WJRT. “This is not the way to do things right now. We need to come together.”

This is my older brother Duper that was killed working security for family dollar, May 1,2020.

These are the crackheads that killed him because she was turned away. pic.twitter.com/8aEcRNmKBc

— nia. (@RoofTopShawty) May 4, 2020

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer‘s executive order requires all retail employees and customers to wear a mask.

The shooting comes after increasing tension in Michigan over Whitmer’s executive orders, as protesters have taken to the state capitol to demand the reopening of businesses.

Demonstrators took to the streets in April to speak out against Whitmer’s stay-at-home mandate, which was extended earlier this month until May 15. The demonstration, known as “Operation Gridlock,” was met with both adulation and criticism from the public.

Whitmer, meanwhile, has faced backlash from Republicans, including President Donald Trump, for her no-nonsense approach to the pandemic. Michigan currently has more than 41,000 cases of coronavirus, with 3,789 lives lost.

Detroit, the state’s largest city, has been especially impacted by the virus, with more than 8,500 infections reported. Of those cases, Black people account for more than 64 percent of them, according to AP. Almost 77 percent of the Detroit residents who have died from coronavirus complications have been Black.