A man shot by a sheriff's deputy while stalking a female wrestler outside a World Wrestling Entertainment training facility in central Florida remains hospitalized, authorities said Tuesday.
Armando Montalvo, 29, was in critical but stable condition at an Orlando hospital, the Orange County's Sheriff's Office said. He's been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and trespassing outside the WWE Performance Center.
Sheriff Jerry Demings said Monday that Deputy Stephen Wahl had no choice but to shoot Montalvo, who he believed had a knife outside the WWE facility. Demings said Montalvo charged the deputy, who tried to retreat before firing his gun.
According to court records, WWE was granted a restraining order against Montalvo last month after previous trespassing on the company's property. Montalvo was never served with that restraining order.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
An Aug. 4 arrest report said Montalvo was charged with trespassing after deputies arrived at the WWE center and found him in the parking lot swinging what was later determined to be a nylon strap at passing cars. He was ordered to the ground and arrested.
During the deputies' subsequent investigation, Montalvo was also found to be in possession of binoculars, a lawn chair and a note on large white board to a woman who deputies later determined to be a WWE female wrestling coach.
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"Armando kept asking if I saw (the woman) while I was inside the WWE building,'' Deputy John Johnson wrote in the arrest report. "Armando kept saying that he loves (the woman) and that she is attractive.''
Deputies did not identify female wrestler who Montalvo was attempting to see prior to Monday's shooting.
She wasn't at the facility at the time, but others were and they called a sheriff's deputy who had been providing off-duty security for the center, Demings said Monday.
Demings said that Wahl fired one round at Montalvo after the deputy had attempted to retreat about 100 feet.
The WWE said in a statement that the Montalvo had no affiliation with the wrestling organization.
The WWE opened the $2.5 million facility in Orlando two years ago. The 26,000 square-foot training center is a graduate school of sorts for future professional wrestlers and a rehab place for injured stars.
