ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man opened fire this week outside a Family Dollar store in the Gravois Park neighborhood after being told to leave for not wearing a face mask, authorities said.

Joc’Quinn F. Perry, 29, of the 3600 block of Iowa Avenue, was charged Wednesday with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm.

According to charges, employees of the Family Dollar store at 3411 South Jefferson Avenue told Perry and a shopper he was with Monday to leave the store for not wearing masks “in accordance with public health standards imposed” by the city health department. Court documents say Perry and the second person reacted by insulting staff and threatening “to shoot up this place” before leaving the store.

When a man, 30, walked outside the store to see if the pair had left the property, Perry responded by pulling a firearm from his bag and firing at him, charges say.

The man wasn’t hit and returned fire, striking Perry in the hip, police said. Neither police nor court documents said if the man who returned fire was a store employee.

Police soon found Perry in the 3600 block of Iowa suffering from a gunshot wound, police said. He told officers he had been shot in a drive-by shooting.

Charges say Perry’s criminal history includes a conviction in federal court in St. Louis for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

Perry was held without bail.