On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 13, 2021, 24-year-old Nicholas Lee entered a Giant grocery store on Reisterstown Road in Baltimore with a female companion who was pushing a baby stroller. Security guard Titus Ninneh approached Lee at the front of the store and asked him to put on a shirt; Lee walked toward the meat section without complying. Ninneh followed and repeated the request, the companion intervened and struck Ninneh in the face with a package of meat, and Lee then pushed Ninneh into a display case and joined in punching him.

During the struggle on the floor, Lee put Ninneh in a chokehold and the companion was on top of Ninneh as Lee attempted to take the guard’s firearm. Ninneh discharged his weapon during the struggle and fired again as he stood up; Lee was struck multiple times in the torso and later died at a hospital. The woman was shot in the hand. On February 3, 2023, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office announced it would not bring charges against Titus Ninneh; no arrests were made in Lee’s death.

What details about the confrontation or the moments before it might help explain how events escalated so quickly?