Florida city commissioner charged in fatal shooting of shoplifter

A city commissioner in central Florida was indicted on the charge of second degree murder in the death of a suspected shoplifter at his military surplus store earlier this month, a state attorney said Friday.

The Oct. 3 shooting was captured on store surveillance and showed Lakeland City Commissioner Michael Dunn firing at Christobal Lopez, 50, at the front door of Dunn’s Vets Army & Navy Surplus.

Dunn could be seen grabbing Lopez, an agricultural laborer, as he tried to leave, then firing a semiautomatic Glock at him. Lopez was holding a hatchet in his right hand that belonged to the store, police said, but wasn’t seen in the video physically threatening Dunn.

Dunn, who was booked into Polk County Jail, has not commented about the incident, which has drawn renewed attention to Florida’s “stand your ground” law, enacted in 2005 with support from gun lobbyists. His attorney has previously said they haven’t decided whether they would want to invoke the statute.

Floridians can justify using deadly force if they believe their life is in danger, and the law doesn’t require the gun owner first try to flee the scene before pulling the trigger.

Second degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.