Police are investigating an incident in which a 57-year-old security guard reportedly shot a supermarket customer on Tuesday during an argument that stemmed from the man not wearing a mask.

Police said that the customer had sought to enter a supermarket in East Bank Demerara, but was prevented from doing so by the security guard because he was not wearing a mask, which is part of public health regulations aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus that has killed 601 people and infected 24,506 others since last year March.

The police said that following the argument, the customer left and later returned with a cutlass, brandishing it at the security guard, who told them that he shot the customer in the leg.

The customer was rushed to Leonora Cottage Hospital and later transferred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he is in a stable condition.