Security guard shot dead in US for ‘refusing customer entry for not wearing mask’

A security guard was killed on Friday for asking a store customer to wear a mask while inside the business, police said.

Calvin Munerlyn, 43, died at a hospital after he was shot in the head at discount store chain Family Dollar in Flint, Michigan.

Three family members have been charged in connection with Munerlyn's death, Genessee County Prosecutor David Leyton said in a news release on Monday.

Sharmel Teague, 45, her husband, Larry Teague, 44, and Sharmel's son, Ramonyea Bishop, 23, face a slew of charges, including premeditated murder, carrying a concealed weapon, and defying Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's executive order that all customers must wear masks while shopping.

The prosecutor’s office said, citing police reports, that Munerlyn told Sharmel that she needed to wear a facial covering while inside Family Dollar.

The two got into a “verbal altercation” and Munerlyn told her to leave the store as Sharmel allegedly screamed and spat at him.

Munerlyn instructed a cashier not to serve the woman. Sharmel left, but returned with two men, according to officials.

The men confronted Munerlyn and Bishop then allegedly shot the security guard in the back of the head.

Just after 2pm on Friday, police found Munerlyn unconscious with a bullet wound to the head.
He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Calvin Munerlyn, 43, was killed on Friday after asking a Family Dollar customer to put on a mask while shopping inside the store.Source:Facebook

Authorities said both Larry Teague and Bishop remain at large, but said Sharmel Teague is in police custody and awaiting arraignment.

The death of Calvin Munerlyn is senseless and tragic and those responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent under the law, Leyton said in a statement.

Munerlyn’s cousin, Tina James, said:

This is not the way to do things right now we need to come together. He will be sadly missed. He will truly be sadly missed our parents grew up together and our kids grew up together.

This was just senseless over a mask! Over a mask, I don't understand it, the security guard’s cousin told WJRT-TV.

Munerlyn had worked at the Family Dollar for just over a year and had worked in security for three decades, his wife, Latryna Sims-Munerlyn, said.

He leaves behind six children, and according to his wife, was a great man.

That man was a legend out here, from troubled teenagers that he helped to taking care of his babies, his wife, his home, she said. That man was just loveable.

The 43-year-old’s mother, Bernadett Munerlyn, called her son “a beautiful person and he loved his family and his mamma so much and his wife.”

All of us together, one big family, we just did everything together and he loved taking his kids out, having fun, basketball, bike rides, exercising, jogging, she said. He just was a beautiful father and it’s devastating that he’s gone.

On Sunday night, around 150 people showed up at a candlelit vigil to mourn Munerlyn's death.