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Domestic violence sparked deadly shooting at Walmart in Florida, police say

Police in Ocala, Florida, are searching for a man who shot and killed a woman in the Garden Center at the Walmart near Silver Springs State Park on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018, officials said. Photo: 

OCALA, Fla. — Police in Florida said Saturday that a 55-year-old man suspected of shooting and killing a woman in the Garden Center of a Walmart in Ocala is not expected to survive after shooting himself.

Police said the man, identified as 54-year-old David Johnson, shot 30-year-old Carli Cronin around 2:30 p.m. at the Walmart at 4980 E. Silver Springs Blvd.

Authorities said David Johnson, 54, shot and killed Carli Cronin, 30, during an argument on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018, at a Walmart in Ocala, Florida. (Ocala Police Department)

According to police, the woman was arguing with the man in the Garden Center when she ran into the store and screamed for help.

Employees at the store called 911 and tried to intervene, police said, but the man fatally shot the woman and fled the scene.

Firefighters said they took the woman to Ocala Regional Medical Center, where she later died.

Firefighters returned to Walmart after receiving multiple calls from people who were suffering distress from the shooting, officials said. Firefighters treated two people at the scene and took another person, who had been injured while people were evacuating the store during the shooting, to a hospital, officials said.

Authorities tracked Johnson to the house he and Cronin shared on NE 35th Street, officers said.

Johnson shot himself before police apprehended him, according to authorities. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Johnson has served multiple prison sentences since 1987 for convictions on charges including burglary, carjacking and drug-related crimes in Marion County, records from the Florida Department of Corrections show. He was most recently released from prison at the end of 2013.

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