An irate customer shot a Milwaukee store worker dead after he flew into a rage about whether a cook wore gloves while making his pizza, according to reports.
Gunman Charles Leggett, 38, opened fire on cashier Jamil Owais, 26, inside Action Food & Liquor around noon on Saturday, Oct. 19, according to WISN 12.
Leggett ordered a pizza, paid and then took his ticket to the back of the store, where another man prepared the pizza for him, Owais’ brother Mohammad Owais told the outlet.
But Leggett went back to the cashier and started to quarrel over whether the cook had been wearing gloves — Leggett believed he hadn’t been, the station said.
Leggett pulled a handgun, reached over the counter and put a bullet in Jamil Owais’ chest before running off, the network said.
Jamil Owais — a father of a 6-month-old baby girl — was behind the counter of the store, which is owned by his family, the report said.
Leggett has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide — and Jamil Owais’ heartbroken family is left wondering why.
“He shot him here in his heart, and he died,” Mohammad Owais said Thursday, choking up as he spoke.
“He’s like my son. Like me, he came when he was a little boy, and he grew up by me … that’s why this thing is hurting me too much.”
Jamil Owais, who came to America from the West Bank in 2013, was covering for his brother that day while he had been running errands, the network said.
“It’s a big loss,” Mohammad Owais said. “He’s a good guy, he never hurt nobody. He’s friendly with all the neighborhood.”
Leggett, a convicted felon who was banned from having a gun, was being held on $200,000 cash bond.
If convicted, he could face 75 years behind bars.
Customers were devastated at the news, and described the cashier as a kind, funny and giving person, the station said.
The employee who made the pizza said it was all for nothing — he was wearing gloves after all, according to the report.