BB gun-wielding suspect shot by officer near Orlando Walmart, police say

ORLANDO, Fla. — A man accused of pelting customers with a BB gun outside an Orlando Walmart was shot nearby when he raised the realistic weapon and aimed it at a police officer, officials said.

An accused shooter taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound, the Orlando Police Department said.

The shooting was reported on John Young Parkway near Princeton Street on Thursday around 4 p.m., near the Walmart where Orlando Lt. Debra Clayton was shot and killed in January.

"The memory of Debra and having to come here again for an officer-involved shooting, that's one of the first things my staff and I talked about. It kind of brings up those sad memories, it does," said Orlando police Chief John Mina.

Officers initially responded to the Walmart after a customer complained he'd been shot in the arm by a man with a BB gun, the department said in a news release.

The victim told investigators that the man walked up to him while he was loading groceries into his truck and opened fire with the BB gun.

The alleged shooter walked into the store and made a purchase before walking back into the parking lot and firing the BB gun at two other customers and parked vehicles.

The man left on foot but was confronted by an officer near John Young Parkway and Princeton Street.

The man started firing the BB gun at the officer, who returned fire, officials said.

The officer was not injured.

The weapon looked like a real gun, which is why the officer opened fire, Mina said.

"It looks like a real gun," he said. "As a matter of fact, the barrel is larger than you would expect a BB gun to have. And the officer did make some statements that he thought the gun was real."

The accused shooter was taken to the hospital for his injuries.

His condition was not immediately available.

Davonte Key was working at the Walmart when the suspect opened fire with the BB gun and said the man was regularly see outside the store begging for money.

One of the people who was shot with the BB gun was a fellow employee, Key said.

"Yeah, one of them was my associate," he said. "He works with me."

With Clayton's shooting death outside the store having happened so recently, Key was just glad Thursday's incident wasn't more serious.

"I'm just glad it wasn't a real gun he shot (people at the store) with," Key said.

Two people at the Walmart were shot and have minor injuries, Mina said.

Watch: Chief John Mina gives update on officer-involved shooting:

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