ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A masked shoplifting suspect shot by an Orange County deputy near a Walmart had recently been arrested, according to the sheriff.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina provided an update on Monday after a deputy shot 48-year-old Jason Anthony Beal, who was accused of shoplifting at a Walmart on East Colonial Drive.
Deputies were called around 8:30 p.m. Sunday to the store at 11250 East Colonial Drive.
Mina said the man stole merchandise from the Walmart after declaring “martial law” and leaving the store. A loss prevention officer saw what he believed to be a knife on Beal, and said Beal had made comments about a gun before he left the Walmart, the sheriff said.
According to sheriff’s officials, a responding deputy located Beal near the Walmart with a shopping cart full of merchandise. The deputy then used a Taser after Beal did not respond to “repeated commands” to stop, Mina said.
“Shortly after that, our deputy can be heard (on body camera video) saying, ‘Don’t reach, don’t reach, you reach three times,’” Mina said. “And then our deputy fires his service weapon at the suspect, striking him several times.”
The sheriff said deputies were then able to handcuff Beal and provide first aid before he was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The sheriff’s office said two knives were recovered at the scene.
The sheriff said Beal did not try to hurt anyone inside the store.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting. The sheriff’s office will conduct its own investigation after FDLE’s findings are turned over to the state attorney’s office.
“Beal also has an extensive criminal history throughout multiple counties in the state of Florida. Most recently, he was arrested by the Orlando Police Department for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in a stabbing in that jurisdiction,” Mina said.
Mina said Beal was released from jail after 33 days due to charges not being formally filed.
Beal faces charges of robbery with a deadly weapon and resisting an officer with violence. He was still in the hospital as of Monday morning.
As activity around the store returned to normal Monday, Sheriff Mina questioned why someone with a violent criminal record had recently been released.
“It’s disappointing. I don’t know why we’re releasing people with violent criminal histories on our streets,” Mina said.
This shooting happened days after a 16-year-old shoplifting suspect at a Poinciana Walmart was shot and killed by an Osceola County deputy after he pulled a gun and ran through the store, officials said.
The teen was one of three people in the store who “had concealed merchandise,” according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
FDLE is investigating this deputy-involved shooting, per procedure.
[WATCH BELOW: 16-year-old ID’d as shoplifting suspect killed by deputy at Poinciana Walmart]