FLORI-DUH: Lakeland Commissioner MICHAEL DUNN Executes Shoplifter -- Watch Video for Yourself. (Orlando Weekly)

Will Governor RICHARD LYNN SCOTT suspend Lakeland Commissioner MICHAEL DUNN pendente lite, as he is empowered to do?   Or will he do nothing in this case of a business-owning elected official "defending" his own business against a fleeing shoplifter by shooting him to death.    This appears to be a homicide -- corporate homicide -- by a City Commissioner, whose life was not at risk.  DUNN shot a fleeing misdemeanant, to wit a shoplifter who had already left his VETS ARMY NAVY SURPLUS STORE.  Gov. SCOTT needs to suspend him immediately, pending investigation and criminal prosecution.

We've had some Commissioners who have behaved like movie cowboys, including former City Commissioner WILLIAM LENNON, who once reportedly waltzed into Christopher's bar (then at 200 Anastasia Blvd.), with a gun on his hip after hearing complaints about the place. While "WILD BILL" LENNON had a gun on his hip at someone else's business at least he didn't unholster the gun.   Not so MICHAEL DUNN.

Footnote: WHEN LAKELAND COMMISSIONER MICHAEL DUNN was 19, he shot and killed a man "by accident."  Initially, police said they were not investigating.

Video shows Lakeland commissioner fatally shooting suspected shoplifter

Posted By Colin Wolf on Mon, Oct 15, 2018 at 1:43 pm

Video shows Lakeland commissioner fatally shooting suspected shoplifter
Posted By Colin Wolf on Mon, Oct 15, 2018 at 1:43 pm
This morning authorities released a disturbing video showing a Lakeland city commissioner killing a suspected shoplifter trying to flee from a military supply store.

The video, which was released Monday by the Lakeland Police Department, shows commissioner and store co-owner Michael Dunn struggling with suspected shoplifter Cristobal Lopez inside the Vets Army Navy Surplus store in Lakeland on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

In the clip, Dunn can be seen holding a handgun in his right hand while Lopez attempts to run out the door. Dunn then fires at least once into Lopez's back, who then falls to the pavement outside. For the rest of the video Dunn appears to walk in and out of the video, while no one provides first aid to Lopez.

A medical examiner later confirmed that Lopez died from two gunshot wounds, reports the Lakeland Ledger.

Lopez, a 50-year-old man who was described by police as a transient, was pronounced dead when responding officers arrived at the scene at 2:30 p.m.

According to police, Lopez attempted to steal a hatchet.

Along with the video, Lakeland Police Department also issued a statement Monday saying the video was released in the "interest of transparency."

"At this time, in the interest of transparency, although the criminal investigation continues to be active, we at the Lakeland Police Department have requested and received the approval of the State Attorney’s Office to release all the videos which show the shooting that occurred on October 3rd," reads the department statement.

No charges have been brought against Dunn.

According to the Ledger, Lopez isn't the first person Dunn has shot and killed. The commissioner accidentally shot and killed someone when he was 19 years old.

From Tampa Bay Times:

PUBLIC SAFETY

‘My brother didn’t need to be killed like some animal,’ says sister of man shot by Lakeland commissioner

Lakeland City Commissioner Michael Dunn, left, shot and killed Cristobal Lopez, right, on Wednesday in the parking lot of an army navy surplus store Dunn co-owns, according to Lakeland police. Authorities are investigating to determine what, if any, charges Dunn might face. {City of Lakeland; Hardee County Sheriff's Office]

Dan Sullivan

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Published: October 5, 2018

Updated: October 5, 2018 at 06:43 PM

LAKELAND — The man who was shot to death Wednesday by a Lakeland city commissioner had a history of arrests, but no convictions for violent crimes.

It remained undetermined whether Commissioner Michael Dunn would face criminal charges in the death of Cristobal Lopez, 50.

"He was not a violent person," Lopez’s sister, Veronica Lopez, said Friday. "My brother didn’t need to be killed like some animal."

On Wednesday afternoon, according to police, the man tried to pocket a hatchet inside the Vets Army Navy Surplus store in Lakeland. Dunn, a co-owner of the business, confronted him, asking if he was going to pay for the item.

Exactly what happened next is unclear. But when Lakeland police officers arrived about 2:30 p.m., Lopez lay dead in the parking lot. Dunn had shot him, police said.

Dunn was not arrested. He and an attorney representing him did not respond to messages left for comment.

Veronica Lopez said police have told her family that Dunn could be charged.

But Lakeland police spokesman Gary Gross reiterated that investigators have not made any decisions about criminal charges.

"They’re still very much in the middle of this investigation," he said.

"The State Attorney’s Office is doing a parallel investigation. They’re interviewing the same people we’re interviewing."

State records show Cristobal Lopez had accumulated more than 25 arrests over three decades on charges that included cocaine possession, shoplifting, and disorderly conduct.

Police described Lopez as a transient. His most recent address was a small house in the rural community of Wauchula, in Hardee County.