Row of Michigan facial masks ends in fatal police shooting


Capture of footage released by Michigan State Police, July 14Image copyright
Michigan State Police

Screenshot

Michigan state police released security footage showing the confrontation between the officer and the suspect

A police officer in the US state of Michigan has shot and killed a man suspected of stabbing a customer in a store, in an altercation over facial masks.

Police say the incident started at a store near Lansing, where the suspect, named Sean Ruis, attacked a 77-year-old man who had challenged him for not wearing a mask.

Ruis is said to have fled the scene in a car.

She was later detained by a deputy sheriff, who opened fire when Ruis launched himself at her.

Michigan state police released footage of the confrontation in a residential area in the Lansing suburb of Delta early Tuesday.

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It shows the police car stopping a vehicle and the driver, identified as Ruis, advancing on the officer who shoots him after a brief fight.

Police say Ruis, 43, was carrying a gun. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The incident occurred 30 minutes after Ruis allegedly stabbed a customer at the Quality Dairy store in Dimondale, about six miles (10 km) south.

The dispute is said to have started when the 77-year-old man, who was wearing a face mask, rebuked Ruis for not doing so. The old man is in the hospital and is said to be stable.

It is not the first facial mask dispute to end in tragedy in the United States.

Last week, a security guard in Gardena, south of Los Angeles, was charged with murder in the shooting of a customer who had entered a store without a face mask.

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