Police Chief Jason Armstrong said Tuesday afternoon that Apex police were investigating an SBI agent who appeared to have shot and killed a man after an alleged shoplifting case.

It happened around 1:30 p.m. in front of the Academy Sports and Outdoors store in the 1150 block of Pine Plaza Drive. Three people were involved in the incident, Armstrong said. When police arrived, they found “three individuals” involved in the incident. He added that a man was on the ground with gunshot wounds, a woman was with him and the other man was “actively involved in the altercation”. The victim was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Armstrong said the investigation is ongoing and police are interviewing witnesses who were in the parking lot, but added that the incident began with apparent shoplifting inside Academy Sports.

He said a man and a woman were in the store when the woman appeared to be trying to steal ammunition from a counter display. Armstrong said the man and woman ran out of the store with the stolen goods, and when they arrived in the parking lot, the pair encountered a man who turned out to be an SBI agent who was later wearing the shirt in which the man was shot and killed . Another gun was found next to the shooting victim, Armstrong said.

“We believe that was his weapon,” Armstrong said.

The official added that the woman was also taken to the hospital for examination but was not shot in the incident. Armstrong said the identity of the shoplifting suspect was not yet known. The police chief said he contacted Attorney General Lorraine Freeman and SBI leaders because it was a shooting involving police officers.

The Apex Police Department is conducting the initial investigation.