BALTIMORE (AP) - The man who authorities say shot and critically wounded a U.S. Marshals deputy was a grocery store security guard who’d been upset about losing $500 in cash.
The Baltimore Sun traced the events that lead up to the exchange of gunfire between U.S. Marshals and Donta Green on Thursday. Green was killed in the shootout.
Green had been wanted by the Baltimore police since Saturday when he engaged in a previous shootout with officers at the grocery store where he worked. The newspaper reported that the crucial event that precipitated the violence was Green’s belief that he lost $500 in cash inside the store.
Green worked as a unarmed security guard at Compare Foods supermarket in north Baltimore. Tonya Smith, a cashier, said Green had told her that he had dropped the cash on the floor and couldn’t find it. And he said that he suspected another cashier of snatching the money.
Green came in even angrier the next day and was “very hyped up,” said Luis Valencia, a store manager.
Green demanded that managers check their security cameras. But Valencia said they were too busy as the store filled with shoppers preparing for an impending snowstorm.
“He got a girl at the front and pointed a gun at her ribs,” Valencia said.
Valencia said they gave $500 in store money to Green and told him to get out. By then, someone had called 911. He was leaving just when police arrived.
Luis Peralta, a store supervisor, said he saw Green shoot first before a series of shots rang out. Peralta said he was mistakenly shot in the arm by a police officer, although police have not confirmed his account. Body camera footage has not been released.
Green got away. And the manhunt hunt for him ensued, ending in another exchange of gunfire on Thursday with U.S. Marshals deputies.
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