Deputies: Knife-wielding man was stalking Walmart employee before deputy-involved shooting

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A 51-year-old knife-wielding man was injured Tuesday afternoon in a deputy-involved shooting at a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Orange County, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies said they shot the man after he confronted a store employee, whom he is accused of stalking, with a large knife.

The two deputies involved in the shooting are OK.

The man, later identified as Abrahan Canaan, was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center. Deputies said Wednesday he remains in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery.

Capt. Angelo Nieves said Canaan was stalking an employee at the store, had caused trouble in the store earlier in the day, and that the man was armed with a knife.

When a deputy responded to the scene, they said they found Canaan outside the store holding a 9-inch knife in the air, and they said he wouldn’t stop at the deputy’s demands.

Nieves said that Canaan ran to a car behind the store and tried to run them down with car, so they opened fire. At least one bullet hit Canaan in the torso.

Deputies said Canaan drove away and crashed on Chickasaw trail and State Road 408 where they were able to get him medical attention. Deputies said they found an ax in Canaan's car.

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“Someone who is a threat to our community, who is not all there, who is walking around with a buck knife, has an ax in his car, and is stalking females,” Nieves said. "You've got shoppers, you've got employees, you've probably got children in that parking lot with their families coming and going. He's a threat to the community and also those deputies."

Canaan is also accused of stalking two other woman, who have filed injunctions against him.

Chickasaw Trail was shut down in both directions between State Road 408 and Lake Underhill for several hours as deputies investigated.

A witness told Channel 9 she saw the man hiding something under his arm and mumbling until something set him off and he made a beeline to the back of the store.

“I heard, like, lots of banging, which caused a lot of people from the shops to run out of the store panicked,” said witness Alina Miller.

The witnesses said they heard at least eight gunshots.

Deputies said although Canaan remains in the hospital, he is in the custody of the Orange County Jail.

Cox Media Group