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Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:48 am
by flcracker
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafe ... _172362390
Lakeland City Commissioner Michael Dunn fatally shot a customer who attempted to steal a hatchet on Oct. 3, 2018, from the Vets Army Navy Surplus store, 819 N Florida Ave., which he owns.

Daniel Figueroa IV
Times staff writer
Published: October 4, 2018Updated: October 4, 2018 at 09:25 AM

A Lakeland City Commissioner fatally shot a customer who attempted to steal a hatchet from an Army-Navy surplus store that he owns on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Lakeland Police Department.

Police responded to the shooting around 2:30 p.m. at the Vets Army Navy Surplus store, 819 N Florida Ave.

"There was some type of a disturbance inside the store that led to this shooting," Gary Gross, Lakeland Police spokesman, told reporters Wednesday. "There were three employees inside the store. The updated information that we have now, is that one of those employees, Michael Dunn, a commissioner with the city of Lakeland, was involved in the shooting."

Police say Dunn, who has been a Lakeland City Commissioner since January, confronted 50-year-old Cristobal Lopez at the store while Lopez’s father was making a purchase.

According to police and witnesses, Dunn saw Lopez take and conceal a hatchet before trying to leave the store while his father was at the counter.

The men got into a confrontation after Dunn stopped Lopez and asked him if he was going to purchase the hatchet, police say.

Police say Dunn shot Lopez, who still had the hatchet. Gross said Lopez was found near the store’s entrance and pronounced dead shortly after paramedics arrived.

Lopez’s father and two store employees were interviewed on the scene.

Gross said police are also looking to review any surveillance footage of the incident.

The State Attorney’s Office is investigating the shooting, and an autopsy will be performed.

Dunn, an adamant supporter of gun ownership, hosted a July rally at his store to counter a nearby March for our Lives rally on the same day. March for our Lives is an advocacy group formed by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students seeking stricter gun-control laws in the wake of a deadly February shooting at the Parkland school.

Dunn, a graduate of the Citizens Police Academy, has worked at the store most of his adult life.

The shooting is not Dunn’s first.

According to the Ledger of Lakeland, Dunn, a 1989 graduate of Lakeland High School, accidentally shot a man when he was 19. The Ledger first reported the incident during Dunn’s unsuccesful bid for a seat on the Polk County Commission in 2000. Reports said Dunn was pretending to draw a 9mm handgun, thinking it was unloaded, when it went off. The bullet went through the front door of his home, down an alley and through the driver’s seat of a Nissan Sentra driven by Robert Hilton.

Hilton was shot in the elbow and police at the time ruled the shooting accidental. Dunn was not charged.

Dunn’s December 2017 runoff victory for Lakeland Commissioner was his fourth attempt at public office. He ran for a county seat in 2000, then for City Commission in 2005 and 2009. His December victory followed a four-way general election that saw him garner 46 percent of the vote, while opponent Larry Durrence received 37 percent. Since neither man received more than 50 percent, a runoff was held in December, in which Dunn won with 54 percent of the vote.

This is a developing story. Stay with tampabay.com for updates.

Daniel Figueroa IV can be reached at dfigueroa@tampabay.com. Follow @danuscripts.

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 11:40 am
by photohause
WTF?

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2018 7:49 am
by Lastrites
Would be nice to see the stores camera's if they have any but this doesn't sound like it will end well for Dunn. Well a hatchet is a deadly weapon.
eta:

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 6:55 pm
by TC6969
No it doesnt!

He could have just as easily let that guy and the $10.00 Walmart hatchet go and called it in to let LEOs handle it.

It doesn't look like the guy was any kind of threat and was just trying to get gone.

I'm afraid someone has some splaining to do!

ETA: Look at the way the guy is holding the hatchet right under the head!

I'm afraid someone has some SERIOUS splaining to do!

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:28 pm
by S&W collector
ASP has posted a review on this

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 7:39 am
by Casual
Yeh.. bad shoot.. even worse than clearwater shooting

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:50 pm
by flcracker
OK, I'll be the first heartless bastard to say what a bunch of you are surely thinking after watching that video.....

"The ammunition appeared to perform satisfactorily with respect to terminal ballistics." :ugeek:

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:55 am
by Villafuego
Looks like he's being charged with 2nd degree murder

https://www.tbo.com/news/publicsafety/L ... _172793988

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:00 pm
by Greg
If if I’m on his jury he’s a free man. Steal and deal w the consequences

Re: Lakeland commissioner fatally shoots man in Army-Navy store that he owns

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:27 pm
by Skoll
FL law expressly states you cannot use lethal force to defend property alone and the store owner was at zero point in fear for his life or threatened. This was 110% a bad shoot.