One man is dead and another is hospitalized after an argument over wearing a face mask at a mid-Michigan convenience store.
Tuesday morning, a man refusing to wear a mask stabbed a mask-wearing man in the store parking lot, just south of Lansing.
A short time later, an Eaton County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed 43-year-old Sean Ruis as he came at her with a knife and screwdriver.
The chain of events left Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich at a loss for words.
“This is the first one I’ve heard in Eaton County — especially going to this extreme — of an individual being stabbed over ‘why aren’t you wearing a mask' or whatever that question was.”
The Michigan State Police are investigating. The 77-year-old stabbing victim was taken to a local hospital and is alive, according to the MSP First District Twitter feed.
Reich urged people to abide by the governor’s executive order to wear a mask when indoors or outdoors when social distancing is not possible.
“Wear your mask. I wear a mask. My deputies wears masks. We all have to be safe. We all have to do our part. So this doesn’t spread,"he said.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order requiring people to wear masks took effect Monday.