A man was hospitalized in critical condition after he asked a woman to wear a mask and she responded by stabbing him in the abdomen.
The alarming incident unfolded at a 7-Eleven convenience store in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago, according to WBBM-TV.
Police said the woman walked into the 7-Eleven about 12:45 p.m. Thursday without a mask. She was confronted by a 48-year-old man who asked her to put on a mask.
The woman then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the abdomen, police said.
The man was immediately rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.
Illinois has a mask mandate that requires residents to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccine status. Masks are not required in outdoor settings, but they are strongly recommended.
The state is experiencing a minor resurgence of the coronavirus, but it appears to have plateaued and is declining. Illinois had peaked with a seven-day average of 12,000 new cases in November 2020, while the newest spike reached a seven-day-average of 5,000 new cases in September.
The stabbing is hardly the first in Chicago due to a mask dispute. In October, two sisters were accused of stabbing an athletic store employee 27 times after he told them to wear a mask and use hand sanitizer. The two sisters were each charged with attempted murder over the alarming incident.
There have been 1.67 million cases reported of the coronavirus in Illinois, and more than 28,000 deaths.
Here’s a local news report about the maskless stabbing:
Man Stabbed By Woman Refusing To Wear A Mask In West Town 7-Eleven
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