Mask dispute cited in cashier’s slaying

DECATUR, Ga. — Police have identified the cashier in an Atlanta area supermarket who was fatally shot after an argument over wearing masks in the store.

Laquitta Willis, 41, died from injuries suffered in the shooting Monday inside the Big Bear Supermarket in Decatur, DeKalb County police said Tuesday. The suspect, 30-year-old Victor Lee Tucker Jr. of Palmetto, is charged with murder and aggravated assault. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the charges against him.

Tucker and a DeKalb County sheriff’s reserves deputy were injured when they exchanged fire. Tucker remained in a hospital but was expected to survive, police said. Deputy Danny Jordan, 54, was shot twice but was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and remained hospitalized in “stable condition” Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said in a release.

Tucker got into an argument with Willis about his mask and left the store without making a purchase, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. But then he immediately returned, walked directly to Willis, pulled out a gun and shot her, the agency said.

Jordan, who was working off-duty as security for the supermarket, tried to intervene and exchanged gunfire with Tucker, the agency said.

The sheriff’s office said a second cashier was grazed by a bullet and was treated at the scene.

Jordan, a veteran of the DeKalb County Police Department, has been a member of the sheriff’s reserves unit since March, the agency said.