Two Orange County deputies shot a 50-year-old man Tuesday along Chickasaw Trail after he was reportedly stalking an employee of a nearby Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.

  • Deputies responded after disturbance at Orange County Wal-Mart
  • Man, armed with knife, fled scene onto Chickasaw Trail
  • Deputies fired at man and vehicle, striking him in torso
  • No deputies were injured in shooting, agency said

Capt. Angelo Nieves said deputies were called to the store at 201 S. Chickasaw Trail at about 12:23 p.m. Tuesday after reports of a man with a knife.

When deputies arrived, they said the man, identified as Abrahan Canaan, refused to put down the knife and ran to his car, which was parked nearby.

He was confronted by two deputies — one who was off-duty at the time — outside the store. 

Canaan fled the scene in a vehicle and attempted to hit one of the deputies. 

Nieves said the deputies were "in fear for their lives" and fired an unknown number of shots while Canaan was in his vehicle along Chickasaw Trail.

The man was struck somewhere in the torso area and was taken to a hospital, Nieves said.

At a 3 p.m. news conference, Nieves said Canaan underwent surgery. As of Wednesday morning, he remained in the hospital in critical-but-stable condition.

He was in the custody of the Orange County Jail. He faces two charges of attempted second-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence.

Nieves said an ax was also found in the man's vehicle.

No deputies were injured in the shooting.

Nieves said Canaan, who has an injunction against him in an unrelated stalking case, was at the Wal-Mart earlier Tuesday before coming back with the large knife.

The deputies have been identified as Matthew Velazquez and Joe Farias-Rios.

Velazquez was hired in August 2015 and Farias-Rios was hired in March 2008.

One of the deputies was off-duty but in the area and responded after hearing dispatch calls.

Both deputies are on paid administrative leave and will be reassigned to administrative work for at least one week, per agency protocol.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been called in to investigate the shooting.

Chickasaw Trail, between State Road 408 and Lake Underhill Road, was closed for much of the afternoon.