LAKELAND, Fla. — The search for a new Lakeland city commissioner officially started Friday. 

In a meeting Friday morning, the commission voted 5-1 to place Don Selvage in an appointed position to serve as commissioner until a Jan. 15 special election.

Selvage is a former city commissioner. Selvage served on the council until January, when now-former Lakeland City Commissioner Michael Dunn replaced him after Selvage decided not to run for a third term.

Dunn is accused of fatally shooting an alleged shoplifter at his store, Vets Army Navy Surplus in Lakeland, on October 3.  

Dunn was arrested Friday, October 19, more than two weeks after the shooting, and resigned from his position on the city commission on Monday, October 22.

Dunn bonded out of jail Thursday night, sprinting away from a row of reporters and cameras to an awaiting vehicle.  

Now, the process of replacing him on the council begins. Though not a complicated process, naming a new member will take time. 

According to the arrest affidavit, 50-year-old Christobal Lopez put a hatchet down his pants from a display in the store.  The incident caught on surveillance video shows Dunn grabbing Lopez as he tried to leave and then opening fire. 

A witness recalled Lopez saying he would pay for it after it fell from his pants, and he was confronted by Dunn.

During his bond hearing on Thursday, the judge also ordered Dunn on house arrest and said he can't work in his store because it has firearms. 

Dunn has also hired a new lawyer for his team — Mark O'Mara, who defended George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was acquitted in the death of Trayvon Martin.

"You got to fill in the context," O'Mara said of the store video clearly showing the shooting. "The moment the three or four moments around that event were very, very telling but were simply not told by that video."