Police identify woman killed in Georgia supermarket shooting

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — Police have identified the cashier in an Atlanta area supermarket who was fatally shot after an argument over wearing face 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 suspected shooter, 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 both injured when they exchanged fire. Tucker remained in a hospital but was expected to survive, police said. DeKalb County Reserves Deputy Danny Jordan, 54, was shot twice but was wearing a bulletproof 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 face 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 GBI said.

Jordan, who was working off-duty as security for the supermarket, tried to intervene and exchanged gunfire with Tucker, the GBI 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 DeKalb Sheriff's Office Reserves Unit since March, the agency said. The unit is a nonprofit organization made up mostly of retired law enforcement officers who provide volunteer services for the sheriff's office.

Decatur is a suburban community about 6 miles (10 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.