ASHEVILLE, North Carolina – 

A woman reportedly pulled a gun on a Kroger’s grocery store cashier who wished her ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of a ‘Merry Christmas’ after the transaction, according to Asheville Police.

“We had a call of a woman, mid-to-late-30s, who pulled a semi-automatic pistol on a Kroger’s employee,” said police chief Miles Kenefic. “The woman, who has yet to be identified, reportedly was upset to hear the employee say ‘happy holidays,’ and pulled the gun from her purse.”

The Kroger’s employee, who has been placed on leave following the incident to recover from stress-related illness, was told by her supervisors to tell everyone “Happy Holidays” after they had completed their transaction.

“It’s Kroger’s policy to say ‘Happy Holidays,’ because it’s more inclusive,” said store manager Joe Goldsmith. “It doesn’t matter to me if you celebrate Christmas or any other holiday at this time. You could celebrate no gift giving of family-oriented or religious holiday. It wouldn’t matter. There’s still New Year’s, and that’s still a holiday, so it’s just what we say here. Our employee was in the right.”

Police have been unable to come up with any leads as to the identity of the woman in the store, but say they are ‘working diligently’ to locate the suspect.

“We’re very upset that this happened in our city,” said Goldsmith. “It’s definitely proof-positive of why people should not be allowed to carry guns. Period.”