A Pennsylvania man on July 31 shot at a cigar store clerk when he was asked to wear a mask. Identified as Adam Zaborowski, the 35-year-old man also fired at police with an AK-47 the next day. The incident ended with him being shot multiple times and being arrested. This incident took place on Saturday morning as the police were waiting outside Zaborowski’s home to arrest him. Zaborowski was shot in the buttocks and leg and is expected to recover.
Zaborowski currently faces 22 charges including attempted homicide, aggravated assault and robbery.
Several people in the US are ‘anti-masks’, even as health officials continue to emphasise on the importance of wearing one while venturing out to public places.
On July 30, mask-sceptic Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert was tested positive for COVID-19.
Zaborowski’s attorney claims that his reaction was driven by his intense difficulty with the pandemic; before the shootout, Zaborowski had lost his job and had also recently lost custody of his child.
Ensuring that people wear masks in public places has been a challenge for policemen and owners of businesses as authorities haven’t given police the option to enforce the same.
Zaborowski adamantly refused to wear a mask, even after the clerk offered to serve him on side of the curb. He instead, pulled out a sheet of paper to point out a line in Pennsylvania state law that he insisted proved that he didn’t have to wear a mask. Pennsylvania, which has had more than 113,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 7,200 deaths, has made masks mandatory in most locations outside of the home from July 1.
