Investigation ongoing after theft suspect is shot dead

A suspected diaper thief shot dead outside a Pine Hills Wal-Mart on Saturday was a fugitive on felony probation at the time of his death, state records show.

Arthur “Art” Adams, 19, was a gang member who was planning to sell the diapers, Orange County sheriff’s Capt. Angelo Nieves said.

A customer — a 50-year-old man — shot Adams after stepping in to help an employee who had followed Adams and two people with him to the parking lot, investigators said.

Nieves would not release the customer’s name, saying the information is “active criminal investigative information” and therefore exempt from disclosure under Florida’s public records law.

He also wouldn’t say whether the customer had a permit to legally carry a concealed weapon or if the suspected thief was armed at the time of the shooting.

Detectives are investigating and plan to forward their findings to the State Attorney’s Office for a decision on whether the customer should be charged.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings urged the public not to rush to judgment.

“The use of deadly force will be evaluated based on law and the right to protect one’s self or others from great bodily harm or death,” he said in a statement.

Nieves said detectives were trying to ID a man seen on surveillance video with Adams. The Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t release the name of the third person, a girl. Deputies said she took off after the shooting but showed up at a hospital with a gunshot wound to her leg.