Anti-Masker Arrested for Allegedly Shooting New Orleans Police Officer at High School Basketball Game

A Tulane University police officer was shot at a high school basketball game over the weekend when he intervened during a dispute with an anti-masker, according to reports.

John Shallerhorn, 35, tried to enter the George Washington Carver High School gymnasium in New Orleans on Friday around 6:15 p.m. when suddenly gunshots rang through the high school lobby, New Orleans police told WGNO. 

Shallerhorn was refused entry by a staffer because he wasn't wearing a mask and then proceeded to allegedly punch the employee, which is when officer Martinus Mitchum, a police officer at the local university, came to help, police told news reporters at a press conference following the incident.

Shallerhorn then allegedly shot Mitchum, 38, in the chest.

Shallerhorn was arrested shortly after and has been charged with first-degree murder and other felonies, officials said. He also robbed someone outside of the gymnasium moments before killing Mitchum inside, Nola.com reported.

“There were kids in there, families in there. What could you be going into a high basketball with a gun?” a friend of the slain officer told WJTV.

Shallerhorn reportedly confessed to shooting the officer and is being held without bail.

There have been several reported deadly disputes over mask mandates, including incidents involving police officers and guards trying to enforce the COVID-19 protocols. In May, a security guard in Michigan was killed when customers were instructed to put their masks on, the Washington Post reported.

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