A man who shot at a gas station in Washington state over the business’s mask requirement was arrested because police were able to identify his face, according to Fox News.
The man without a mask entered the Toads Astro Express Mart in Ellensburg, Washington on Dec. 20, in violation of the business’s coronavirus mitigation policies, the Daily Recorder reported. When the man was asked to put on a mask, he left the gas station store fuming, according to Fox News. The suspect then got into a vehicle on the passenger’s side and fired at least three shots from the vehicle before it drove away, Fox News reported.
Here is the most 2020 crime story of the year. A man fired shots outside a gas station after being booted out for not wearing a mask. He was later identitied by witnesses because he hadn’t been wearing a mask. https://t.co/Pln8Teifgp
— Gus Silber (@gussilber) December 27, 2020
The man was arrested Dec. 22 by Ellensburg police without a struggle at his workplace, the Daily Recorder reported.
Ellensburg Police Captain Dan Hansberry said police were able to track down the man thanks to witness descriptions of the suspect’s mask-less face and vehicle, according to the Daily Recorder. Witnesses were also able to provide a license-plate number, the Daily Recorder reported. (RELATED: Dr. Anthony Fauci Predicts When The Face Masks Might Come Off)
“Not to sound sarcastic, but he wasn’t wearing a mask,” Hansberry said, the Daily Recorder reported.
Detectives joined by members of the Kennewick Police Department also recovered a handgun they suspect was used to shoot at the gas station, the Daily Recorder reported. Hansberry said ballistic evidence results will be able to confirm whether or not the handgun found was the one used in the gas-station shooting.
Other individuals have committed crimes after outbursts of rage over mask policies, such as in Pinellas County, Florida, where police arrested a man in October after punching an Uber driver that asked him to wear a mask.