A supermarket cashier was shot and killed by a customer after a row over wearing a face mask descended into slaughter, police say.
During the terrifying incident inside the packed store the gunman was also wounded when the shop's security guard opened fire at him.
He was shot repeatedly during the firefight in front of shocked shoppers which broke out inside the Big Bear Supermarket in Georgia, US, shortly after 1pm.
Officers who rushed to the scene said the injured gunman was caught trying to 'crawl out' of the supermarket.
DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox told a news conference: "It was over a mask. I don't know if they were wearing, or not wearing.
"The wearing of the mask and not wearing of the mask, people have their own opinion about it and it is very sensitive at this time."
Several people were inside the supermarket when the row over the wearing of the man's mask erupted.
During the row the gunman stormed out of the store without buying anything, before returning moments later.
He then walked behind the woman cashier, pulled out a handgun and shot her before opening fire on a security guard who was also inside.
The guard returned fire on him, striking the man a number of times, police said.
Two officers then arrived and arrested the suspected gunman, named by police as Victor Lee Tucker, 30, as he was trying to 'crawl out the front door of the supermarket.'
The cashier was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where she was sadly pronounced dead.
Sheriff Maddox said the other were also rushed to hospital, where the guard remains in a stable condition after he was shot twice.
Authorities have not released the name of the dead cashier who was involved in the shooting or confirmed the exact nature of the mask row.
A second cashier was also grazed by a bullet and was treated for her injury at the scene.
The security guard was said to have been a retired 30-year veteran of the DeKalb County Police Department who is now a reserve deputy with the Sheriff's Office.
The guard, who works part-time at the supermarket, was wearing a protective vest, police said.
Businesses in Georgia can request customers wear a mask to prevent the spread of Covid but can't require them to do so.
This is line with executive orders issued by Republican Governor Brian Kemp.
