Surveillance showed the victim came up behind Phillips, who turned toward Pierce. Pierce then flipped off Phillips and put his hands in Phillips’ face, police said.
Following a verbal argument, Phillips pulled a gun on the man inside the store, multiple witnesses told police.
Pierce told
WBKO he told the gun-wielding man, ‘Then pull the trigger. Put the gun down and fight me or pull the trigger. Whichever one you want.’ And he backed up and he said it again, he said, ‘It’s a good day for you to die.’”
Witnesses and Pierce said Phillips drew his gun, but the weapon could not be seen on surveillance video because Phillips backed out of view of the camera, police said.
Phillips took off toward the parking lot and Pierce followed him there, he told WBKO.
“I went out the front of the store to confront him again and that’s when I got him in his car. He couldn’t leave because his mother was in the store. And we were having a verbal altercation outside,” Pierce said.