VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A sniper with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team shot and killed a man accused of shooting at condo units and law enforcement near Ormond-By-The-Sea on Thanksgiving, according to Sheriff Mike Chitwood, WKMG reported.
The sheriff’s office Thursday morning made several statements on social media warning people to avoid the area of the Kingston Shores condominiums, located at 5500 Ocean Shore Blvd., where the man had reportedly shot multiple rounds outside of a condo and at neighboring units, as well as at a sheriff’s office vehicle.
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Neighbors were evacuated and traffic was rerouted, the statements read. Through the morning, the sheriff’s office continued urging people in the area to stay away while officials worked toward reaching a resolution. By around 11:30 a.m. — with the original post having been made closer to 9:30 a.m. — the sheriff’s office said the man was still shooting.
Sheriff Chitwood said at a news conference shortly after noon that the man had been shot and killed by law enforcement.
Chitwood said the man was born in 1968, was “snowbirding” in Florida and was being treated by the VA out of Connecticut, adding he was alone in the unit — which the sheriff described as an Airbnb — because “his family was so scared of him (that) they relocated north” to the Palm Coast area.
Deputies had been called to the area around 4:30 a.m. regarding a person having suicidal thoughts and wanting some help, Chitwood said at the news conference.
“We were out there three times in the last four days. I think we were out there for a well-being check, they were out there to serve the ex-parte order that had not been signed and then we were out there for the medical issue earlier this morning, and obviously right there when (he) started firing shots,” Chitwood said.
After the man refused to go to the hospital, multiple calls came in around 6 a.m. alleging he was shooting at other residents’ properties, according to the sheriff, adding the man barricaded himself after deputies arrived.
“Probably he has fired close to 200-plus rounds. I’m sure when you’ll see the crime scene, some of the apartments are littered, the façade is just shot up. There’s rounds in people’s homes,” Chitwood said. “He shot at our negotiators, at the speaker on the truck. He shot at the SWAT truck when it pulled up. He retreated into a back bedroom. We were able to send in tear gas and kind of corner him, but it was obvious that he wasn’t coming out. He was armed with at least a shotgun, a handgun and a Tommy gun.”
No other injuries were reported from the scene, according to the sheriff.
“He wouldn’t talk to us. He responded with gunfire every time they would get on. ‘Hey, you know, this is deputy so-and-so, turn your phone on, we’re here to help, we’re trying to get a hold of the VA. We- you know, there’s no reason to be doing this,’ and they were met with a barrage of gunfire,” Chitwood said. “(...) The family told us he only had two guns and, like, one clip. Well, you know, for all these hours we were out there, somebody wasn’t paying attention because he was armed for Armageddon, is what he was armed for,” Chitwood said.
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Neighbor Jason Valiant told News 6 that he heard the shots fired.
“Oh my Gosh. We were just having Thanksgiving a few minutes ago or trying to watch the parade on TV, and then it was just big guns, big tanks, a lot more than you would expect to see,” he said. “All the neighbors started texting each other and saying, ‘Hey, this is real. There’s a shooter.’ And within a few minutes, all the cops were here, and the tanks were in, and the big armor proof forklift is here.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting, according to Chitwood.
News 6 is presently not naming or showing the man.