A woman in Oklahoma opened fire on McDonald’s staff after being told the restaurant’s dining area was closed during the coronavirus pandemic, police said.
It was one of several cases of sometimes deadly violence against employees trying to enforce social distancing rules across the United States (U.S.) in recent days, as tensions over such measures escalate.
Four workers at the fast food chain were hospitalised after being injured in the shooting and scuffle on Wednesday night, Oklahoma City police said in a news release.
Last Friday, a store security guard in Michigan was shot dead after he told a customer to wear a face mask.
Three people have been charged in connection with his murder, the local prosecutor said in a press release.
Last Thursday, Texas police arrested a man who allegedly pushed a park ranger into a lake, broadcaster ABC reported.
A video posted to social media shows the park ranger telling people to stand apart before he is shoved into the water.
Meanwhile, the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of a Dallas woman who was serving a seven-day jail sentence for refusing to comply with court orders to shutter her hair salon.
Shelly Luther’s sentence caused uproar, including from the state’s governor and attorney general.
The cases highlight a vocal backlash against measures to stem the spread of the virus, which public health experts say are essential to blunting the outbreak that has killed more than 74,000 people in the U.S.
As many state’s stay-at-home orders stretch past a month, protests have taken place around the country, contending that the economic fallout from the lockdowns outweighs the public health concerns.
Also, two men suspected of ambushing a black jogger and shooting him to death during an altercation were arrested on Thursday, authorities in the state of Georgia said.
Father and son Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael, who said they suspected Ahmaud Arbery was a burglar, were charged with murder and aggravated assault, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
“The McMichaels were taken into custody and will be booked into the Glynn County Jail,” the statement added.
The killing of Arbery, 25, who was out exercising on a sunny day in February near his home in Brunswick, Georgia, sparked outrage across the U.S. after video footage of the incident was anonymously leaked and widely shared online.
The video appears to show Arbery jogging down a street when he comes across the McMichaels, who are both white, brandishing guns and blocking the road with their truck.
Arbery swerves to the right of the truck and then an immediate altercation begins, which seems to be between him and Travis McMichael for control of McMichael’s shotgun.
During the altercation, Arbery is shot multiple times and killed.
For many in the U.S., the fatal incident involving the death of an unarmed black man recalls the case of Trayvon Martin in 2012.
Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, was killed by a local man in Florida while returning home from a convenience store.
His death sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, which campaigns against racism and violence toward black people and in favour of criminal justice reform in the U.S.
