Kay Jewelers fires store manager after NC deputy turned away over service weapon

The deputy had bought an engagement ring and had it sized. When he went to pick up the ring Tuesday from the Kay Jewelers store in Statesville during his lunch hour, he was met at the door by the manager, who said he could not wear his service weapon on the premises, the Sheriff's Office wrote in a social media post Wednesday.

"The deputy informed the manager he was in uniform and his marked patrol car was in the parking lot, and it would be a violation of policy for him to remove his service weapon while in uniform," the Iredell County Sheriff's Office said in the post.

>> Jewelry store turns away armed deputy picking up engagement ring, police say

Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said the deputy left without the ring and called the encounter "difficult for us to comprehend."

Hours later, Kay Jewelers issued a statement:

"Kay Jewelers is reaching out to the customer and the Iredell County Sheriff's Office to sincerely apologize for the mishandling of this matter. We have tremendous respect for law enforcement, and we thank the Office for bringing this to our attention. We will be sure to reinforce store training regarding our firearm policy with specific regard to uniformed law enforcement."