Police in Florida released a video Monday that showed a city councilman shooting and killing a man he said was shoplifting from the military surplus story he owns.
NBC affiliate WFLA 8 obtained the video from Lakeland, Fla. police on Monday that shows Lakeland City Commission member Michael Dunn shooting 50-year-old Christobal Lopez as Lopez leaves the store. Lopez, Dunn alleges, was attempting to steal a hatchet from his store.
{mosads}No charges have been filed against Dunn, as Florida law requires prosecutors to prove a shooting was not justified under the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law that allows business owners and homeowners to fatally shoot suspected criminals.
The Lakeland shooting, which took place Oct. 3, is still under investigation according to NBC. No fighting between Dunn and Lopez is seen on the video before the shooting takes place.
Dunn first took office in Lakeland in January of this year, and WFLA reports his lawyer says that he skipped this week’s meeting to not cause a distraction.
Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law made national headlines in 2012 with the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, at the hands of 28-year-old George Zimmerman who was found not guilty for the shooting under the law.
Gun violence has also become a top issue in the state ahead of the 2018 midterm elections next month following a deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla. earlier this year that left 15 students and faculty members dead.