family dollar

Security Guard Killed in Dispute Over Face Mask Policy in Michigan

Calvin Munerlyn, a guard at a Family Dollar store in Flint, was killed after telling two customers to leave the store for refusing to follow a governor’s order to wear face coverings in public.

A security guard in Flint, Michigan was killed in a dispute on Friday, May 1 after trying to enforce a face covering policy at a Family Dollar store, a county prosecutor said on Monday.

Calvin Munerlyn was shot and killed during an altercation with a woman, Sharmel Teague, who was told to leave the store because her daughter was not wearing a mask, NBC News reported. Three people are charged with first-degree premeditated murder and other firearms charges: Sharmel Teague, her husband Larry Teague, and her son Ramonyea Bishop.

After being told of the governor’s executive order requiring a face covering to stop spread of the coronavirus, Teague’s daughter left the store. But Teague stayed to argue with Munerlyn, who told her to leave and instructed a cashier not to serve her. She allegedly spit on him before leaving and returning with her husband and son, according to Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton.

An argument began, with Larrry Teague accusing Munerlyn of disrespecting his wife, and Bishop then shot Munerlyn in the head, Leyton said.

“From all indications, Mr. Munerlyn was simply doing his job in upholding the Governor’s Executive Order related to the COVID-19 pandemic for the safety of store employees and customers,” Leyton wrote in a statement.

Sharmel Teague was arraigned on charges on Tuesday, while her son and husband were still not in police custody as of Tuesday night. No information has been released about Teague’s daughter, who has not been charged. Parts of the crime were caught on security camera footage, which will surely be used as evidence in the case.

As the demand for security guards grows due to landlords wanting protection for closed buildings or to enforce policies like the face mask order, the killing in Michigan is concerning for many members of the security industry. Brian Carr, co-owner of Michigan Security, told ABC 12 News that private security guards can ask customers to leave if they are not following the mask measures.

“For the most part we just advise,” Carr told the news station. “There’s nothing that we can do to really enforce it. If somebody were an imminent threat or posting symptomatic, we would call our local sheriff’s department and have that person dealt with.”

A candlelight vigil for Munerlyn, a father of eight, was held on Sunday night. Bernadett Munerlyn, Calvin’s mother, told MLive.com that she wants justice for her son, who was killed over something that “wasn’t that serious.”

“All you people just have to do is listen to the law, listen to the governor,” she said. “Just stay home. If you don’t have to come out, then you wouldn’t need a mask unless you’re out getting groceries or necessities. All my baby was doing was his job working and doing his job.”

Leyton echoed that sentiment in his statement: “It’s important that the Governor’s order be respected and adhered to and for someone to lose their life over it is beyond comprehension.”

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Cloud Adoption Gives Way to Hybrid Deployments

    Cloud adoption is growing at an astonishing rate, with Gartner forecasting that worldwide public cloud end-user spending will approach $600 billion by the end of this year—an increase of more than 21% over 2022. McKinsey believes that number could eclipse $1 trillion by the end of the decade, further underscoring the industry’s exponential growth. Read Now

  • AI on the Edge

    Discussions about the merits (or misgivings) around AI (artificial intelligence) are everywhere. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find an article or product literature without mention of it in our industry. If you’re not using AI by now in some capacity, congratulations may be in order since most people are using it in some form daily even without realizing it. Read Now

  • Securing the Future

    In an increasingly turbulent world, chief security officers (CSOs) are facing a multitude of challenges that threaten the stability of businesses worldwide. Read Now

    • Guard Services
  • Security Entrances Move to Center Stage

    Most organizations want to show a friendly face to the public. In today’s world, however, the need to keep people safe and secure has become a prime directive when designing and building facilities of all kinds. Fortunately, there is no need to construct a fortress-like entry that provides that high level of security. Today’s secured entry solutions make it possible to create a welcoming, attractive look and feel at the entry without compromising security. It is for this reason that security entrances have moved to the mainstream. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis. 3