A dispute over a parking space at a Florida Walmart ended with a man shot dead in the lot. The man was 62-year-old Bart Diguglielmo, who was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. A woman shot him after the two argued, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. She told investigators she acted in self-defense. She has not been named or charged with a crime.
It happened Tuesday, shortly before 12:30 p.m., at the Walmart on West McNab Road in North Lauderdale. Deputies say the two got into a verbal argument over a parking space. The argument escalated, and the woman produced a handgun and fired. Diguglielmo was hit. Cellphone and dashcam video captured parts of what happened.
The woman stayed at the scene and cooperated with detectives, telling them the shooting was self-defense, the sheriff’s office said. Diguglielmo was rushed to a hospital, where he died. She was not immediately arrested. In the days since, she had not been charged, and the sheriff’s office had not released her name.
The question remains. Was it a lawful act of self-defense? Or is it something a prosecutor will charge as a crime? Under Florida law, that isn’t for the deputies at the scene to decide, and it will need to go through court. And when it’s no doubt seen by a jury, the video will likely be the deciding factor for the suspect’s fate.
What Authorities and the Video Describe
Investigators have laid out a rough sequence, and video obtained by news outlets fills in some of it. The two argued over the parking space. The woman then got out of her vehicle holding a handgun. Reports describe her pointing it and repeatedly telling Diguglielmo to walk away, with a phone in her other hand. He appeared to start walking off, then turned back toward her. That’s when she appeared to fire a single shot.
The two statements seem to be at odds here. The woman’s account is that she feared for her safety and fired to protect herself. Others may see a confrontation she could have driven away from. The footage doesn’t settle it on its own, and neither the sheriff’s office nor anyone else has publicly called the shooting justified or criminal.
How Florida Decides Whether It Was a Crime
Florida gives people broad legal room to use force in self-defense. That includes deadly force when someone reasonably believes they face death or serious harm. It’s part of why the woman wasn’t arrested on the spot. When a shooting is framed as self-defense, officers often hold off on an immediate arrest and leave the harder call to prosecutors. Here, the Broward County State Attorney’s Office will review the case and decide whether to file any charges.
Prosecutors will look at the video, physical evidence, witness accounts, and whether the woman’s fear was reasonable under the law. It’s a high-stakes judgment, and cases like it can take weeks or longer to resolve. Behind the legal questions is a family in grief. Diguglielmo, a 62-year-old military veteran, was remembered by his sister, who told CBS News Miami he was a good man who “would not hurt anyone.” Whatever prosecutors decide, a man went to Walmart over a parking space and didn’t come home.