Two fugitives sought in connection with the fatal shooting of a security guard at a Family Dollar store in Michigan over a dispute about a customer not wearing a face mask have been arrested, authorities said Friday.
The men, Ramonyea T Bishop, 23, and his stepfather, Larry E Teague, 44, were charged in the May 1 shooting death of the security guard, Calvin Munerlyn, at the store in Flint, Michigan.
The Genesee County prosecutor, David Leyton, said on Twitter that Bishop was captured Friday afternoon in Bay City, Michigan, about 50 miles north of Flint. Teague was taken into custody Thursday in Houston and was being extradited to Michigan. They both face felony premeditated murder and firearms charges.
Also Friday, two Flint residents, Laura Ann Mitchell, 44, and Terrance D Findley, 43, were charged with obstruction of justice, harbouring a felon and related charges for their roles in getting Teague to Houston, Leyton said.
They rented a vehicle, drove Teague to Houston, helped him buy clothing there and rented a hotel room for him, Leyton said. Information that came to the Flint Police Department helped tip off authorities to the fugitives’ whereabouts, he said.
The US Marshals Service Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team and the Michigan State Police had been offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the fugitives’ arrests.
On Thursday, a sister of Bishop, Brya S Bishop, 24, was charged with interfering with efforts to locate Teague and her brother, Leyton said on Twitter. She was charged with tampering with evidence, lying to police investigating a violent crime and accessory after the fact to a felony.
The shooting unfolded after Munerlyn, 43, the security guard, told a customer, Sharmel Teague, that her daughter needed to wear a mask inside the store.
Sharmel Teague yelled and spat at him, prompting the security guard to tell her to leave and instructing a cashier not to serve her, the prosecutor said Monday.
Sharmel Teague left the store and called her husband, Larry Teague, who returned to the store with her son, Ramonyea Bishop, Leyton said.
Ramonyea Bishop is accused of then shooting Munerlyn in the head. Sharmel Teague faces premeditated murder and firearms charges, officials said Monday.
Mark Jankowski, acting US marshal for the Eastern District of Michigan, said, “This senseless act of violence, and the loss of human life over someone doing their job is despicable.”
The family of Munerlyn held a vigil Sunday night with cars lining up around the store where the shooting took place.
The shooting came as wearing a face mask — or refusing to — has become a hotly debated issue that has drawn deep divisions and protests.
In California, officials condemned a man who was photographed wearing a makeshift Ku Klux Klan hood while shopping at a supermarket outside San Diego.
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