Police in Florida are investigating a deadly confrontation in a parking lot outside a Walmart in North Lauderdale, in which an Army veteran was shot and killed by a woman. Authorities described the case as one that began with a dispute over a parking space and ended in gunfire, and they said it was being examined closely.
According to a witness account relayed by authorities, the dispute started over who would take a particular parking spot. The witness said the woman managed to slip into the spot anyway. The man then came out, moved his car, and walked off for a cigarette, in what appeared at first to be the end of the encounter.
The situation, however, did not end there. The woman is seen on video getting out of her car, with a phone in one hand and a gun in the other. The witness said that a person in a white car told her the man was waiting nearby, and he was then seen walking towards her.
As the confrontation continued, the woman pointed the gun at the man, and he followed her around a car. The witness said the woman repeatedly warned him that she would shoot if he kept coming at her. She then turned and opened fire, and the man was struck.
The man, described as an Army veteran, was killed. The shooting has drawn attention because of the sequence of events captured on video and the questions it raises about how an argument over a parking space could end in a death.
Police said the woman claims she acted in self-defense. That account places the case within the framework of Florida's stand-your-ground law, under which, as explained in the coverage, a person is entitled to use deadly force if they believe they are defending themselves or their property from deadly force or a forcible felony.
As of the latest reporting, the woman is no longer in custody, and the shooting is now under investigation. Prosecutors will decide whether charges will be filed. No determination has been announced, and the account of what happened is based on the witness statement and the video described by authorities as the inquiry continues.