Retired veteran killed at Florida Walmart after parking dispute as woman claims self-defense

The woman involved remained at the scene and claimed she acted in self-defense. The Broward Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

A retired United States Army staff sergeant is dead after a dispute, allegedly over a parking space at a Walmart in North Lauderdale, Florida, escalated into a fatal shooting on June 30.

Bart Diguglielmo, 62, of Lauderhill, was shot just before 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the store located at 7900 West McNab Road and was later pronounced dead at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported, citing a Broward Sheriff’s Office news release.

The woman who fired the shot remained at the scene after the incident and told investigators she acted in self-defense. She has not been publicly identified. As CBS News Miami reported, Broward Sheriff Office homicide detectives are handling the investigation, and once complete, the case will be turned over to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office to determine whether charges will be filed.

Cellphone and dashcam footage captured part of the confrontation before the shooting. The Sun Sentinel described the dashcam video as showing Diguglielmo approaching the woman near her car, with the woman pointing a gun at him as he raised his arms in the air. A separate cellphone clip captured the woman telling Diguglielmo to “walk away” moments before a single shot was fired.

Diguglielmo, originally from Hammonton, New Jersey, was a decorated veteran who served in Desert Storm and later spent 30 years working as a nurse, according to his sister, who spoke to CBS News Miami by phone. “He was a Christian man and a very good person and would not hurt anyone,” she said, calling the incident “just heartbreaking.” She also shared that Diguglielmo had an identical twin who died years ago.

His daughter Amanda pushed back on the self-defense narrative in an emotional interview with Local 10, cited by the New York Post. “I just don’t think anybody deserved to lose their life over a parking spot,” she said through tears.

Amanda, who revealed she and her father had only recently repaired their relationship after years of estrangement, also disputed reports suggesting he had made advances toward the woman. “My dad is not that person,” she said, per the New York Post. “He’s not perfect, but not someone that would do this to this extreme.”

Amanda said she came forward because she wanted her father remembered for who he truly was, not how media coverage had portrayed him.