Security guard fatally shot while telling shoppers to wear masks

A Family Dollar store security guard was fatally shot in Flint, Michigan, on Friday after telling a customer her child had to wear a face mask to enter the store, prosecutors said.

An argument began when the security guard, Calvin Munerlyn, 43, told Sharmel Lashe Teague, 45, that customers needed to wear face masks in the store, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said at a Monday news conference.

She yelled at him, spit on him and drove off, Leyton said. About 20 minutes later, her car returned to the store and her husband and son, Larry Edward Teague, 44, and Ramonyea Travon Bishop, 23, stepped out and confronted Munerlyn, according to investigators who spoke to witnesses in the store and reviewed surveillance video. Bishop shot him, Leyton said.

Leyton said Munerlyn was doing his job, protecting others and enforcing a statewide executive order. In Michigan, people are required to wear face coverings in businesses. Stores can refuse service to anyone who isn't wearing a mask.

"We simply can't devolve into an 'us versus them' mentality," he said. "We need to make a commitment as a community to do the things necessary to allow us to stay healthy and turn a page on this crisis together. Not for ourselves but for Calvin Munerlyn, who lost his life needlessly and senselessly."

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Michigan State Police arrested Sharmel Teague but are searching for the two men, Special 1st Lt. David Kaiser said.

Social media posts by friends and family memorialized Munerlyn, a father of eight children, by his nickname: "Big Duper." A GoFundMe account for the family has raised more than $22,000, exceeding its goal. Latryna Sims Munerlyn, his wife of 10 years, told NBC 25 that he worked at the store for more than a year.

"He would have given you the shirt off his back, the food off his table," Courtney Cabine, a family friend, told the news station. "He was the life of the party."

Nickolas Harrison, who was Munerlyn's friend for 15 years and had worked other security jobs with him, told The Washington Post that Munerlyn was killed trying to protect others.

"My friend Duper was killed for telling a lady she has to put a mask on to come in the store," he said, "which could save her life or the life of others."

Family Dollar's website says store employees may wear face coverings, but there's no requirement listed for customers. Family Dollar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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