The man who allegedly shot the Georgia store manager was later killed in an altercation with police officers

NEED TO KNOW

• Alexis Hill was fatally shot by a customer on June 23 during an alleged altercation over a $1.58 purchase at a Dollar General store in Georgia
• The suspect, Jerome Willis, was killed hours later in a police confrontation that left an officer and a K-9 injured
• Hill, remembered as a hardworking and loving mother, is survived by three children and two grandchildren

A Dollar General store manager and mom of three is dead following an alleged altercation over buns.

Alexis Hill was ringing up a customer for a purchase of hamburger buns for a total of $1.58 at a Dollar General location on Victory Drive in Columbus, Ga., on Tuesday morning, June 23, when he shot and killed her, WKRC and WTVM reported, citing officials.

The customer — identified by authorities as 33-year-old Jerome Willis — handed Hill, 44, two crumpled $1 bills to pay for the buns and, as she straightened out the cash, he stepped aside and then pulled out a gun and shot her, the outlets reported, citing the Muscogee County Coroner's Office.

Hill was shot just after 10 a.m. local time, and Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan pronounced her dead shortly after, at around 10:45 a.m., per WTVM.

Willis fled the scene and was later shot and killed during a confrontation with police officers at about 11:40 a.m. that left one officer and a police dog wounded.

Officers with the Columbus Police Department (CPD) located Willis in a parking lot and gave him “verbal commands,” with which he “did not comply,” according to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), which is investigating the incident.

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The CPD officers then released the K-9 to apprehend Willis, who shot a gun at the dog and pointed the weapon at the other officers at the scene. Columbus police then returned fire, firing toward the suspect and hitting him “multiple times,” the GBI said. Willis was pronounced dead at the scene.

Along with the police dog, one CPD officer was “shot during the incident,” the GBI said. They both “sustained non-life-threatening injuries.”

According to Hill's family members, she and Willis did not know each other, WKRC reported.

A CPD spokesperson referred back to the GBI's release when reached by PEOPLE on Saturday, June 27. PEOPLE has also reached out to Dollar General for comment.

In the days since Hill's death, loved ones have shared tributes to the late mother and Dollar General manager on social media and with local news outlets.

A friend of Hill, who said the Georgia mom was the godmother of her child, described her to WTVM as “sweet” and “positive.” “She'd make you laugh,” the friend, whom the outlet did not identify, said of Hill. “She loved that job, and she worked her entire butt off for that job.”

“She can't be replaced,” Hill's brother, Jonathan, said, according to WKRC. “It's a loss that I'm going to have to deal with, and the family is going to have to deal with.”

Hill is survived by her three children, as well as two grandchildren, according to a GoFundMe that Jonathan created to raise money for her funeral expenses.

She “was a beloved sister, mother, grandmother, and member of our family whose sudden tragic passing has left us heartbroken,” Jonathan wrote in the fundraiser description. “Our family is devastated. Alexis touched many lives with her kindness, generosity and spirit, and we want to come together to celebrate her life and support her estate during this difficult time.”

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