Daytona Beach police responded to a shooting at AdventHealth Daytona Beach Saturday morning. Responders found a woman who had shot her terminally ill husband and confined herself to his room, according to police. He was the only patient in the room, police said. “Once arriving, our officers were directed to the 11th floor where they encountered an elderly woman who had apparently shot her terminally ill husband,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said at a news conference. Staff and patients near the room have been evacuated, officials said. No one else was injured. “At no point were hospital staff or any other patients threatened,” Yang said. After consultation, the wife was detained at around 3 pm. Police have identified the victim as 77-year-old Jerry Gillan and the shooter as his wife, 76-year-old Alan Gillan. They said a few weeks ago that they had made a murder-suicide pact three weeks ago if their terminally ill husband continued to deteriorate. “Obviously because he’s terminally ill, they had a conversation about it. In fact, it was planned about three weeks ago that if he continued to play out the worst, he wanted her to end it,” Yang said. “Obviously, we’re not sure how she got that gun into the hospital, but there was a plan.” Police said the plan was for the husband to shoot, but he was too weak. They received a call about the shooting at around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, with negotiators held hostage hours before the woman was taken into custody. Meanwhile, surrounding rooms had to be cleaned in what police described as a “logistical nightmare”. “Because the 11th floor is full of terminally ill patients, almost all of them are on ventilators,” Young said. He said they didn’t have enough room to evacuate the entire floor, but Gillander never left the room where the shooting took place. “She never put the gun down, so she never specifically threatened to shoot any of us, but she never put the gun down,” Young said. “So we had to assume you knew if we stormed in, we weren’t communicating effectively what could turn into a shootout.” So they used a device to distract her so she would drop the gun. “It was called Flashbangs for SWAT teams,” Yang said. “They used it. It just made a loud noise like—pretty sure you’re familiar with that one. So they used flash bangs to distract her, luckily it worked.” They also used a The beanbag hit Gilland and she was eventually taken into custody. “It’s a difficult situation, so her husband is terminally ill, so she’s already in a state of depression, just because her husband is terminally ill and knows the end is near,” Yang said. She was at the Daytona Beach Police Department Saturday afternoon. The police chief said she was being transported to the Volusia County Jail. Gillander faces charges of first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. AdventHealth issued a statement Saturday afternoon regarding the shooting. “We are devastated by the tragedy that unfolded at AdventHealth’s Daytona Beach campus today, and our prayers are with those affected. We thank the Daytona Beach Police Department for helping to keep our patients, team members and visitors safe, ’” AdventHealth said in a statement.TOP NEWS: Woman killed crossing street in Volusia County Kissimmee police: Twin brothers charged with robbery, sexual assault Deputy: Woman arrested for shooting, killing mom buying food in Orange County
Daytona Beach police responded to a shooting at AdventHealth Daytona Beach Saturday morning.
Respondents found a woman who had shot her terminally ill husband and locked herself in his room, according to police.
According to police, he was the only patient in the room.
“Once arriving, our officers were directed to the 11th floor where they encountered an elderly woman who had apparently shot her terminally ill husband,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said at a news conference. ”
Staff and patients near the room have been evacuated, officials said.
No one else was injured.
“At no point were hospital staff or any other patients threatened,” Yang said.
After consultation, the wife was detained at around 3 pm.
Police have identified the victim as 77-year-old Jerry Gillan and the shooter as his wife, 76-year-old Alan Gillan.
They are both from New Smyrna Beach.
The Daytona Beach Police Department said the investigation revealed the couple had planned it weeks earlier.
They said that if the terminally ill husband continued to deteriorate, the two agreed three weeks ago that it would be done by murder-suicide.
“Obviously because he’s terminally ill and they had a conversation about it, they actually planned it about three weeks ago that if he continued to go the worst way, he wanted her to end it,” Yang said. “Obviously, we’re not sure how she got that gun into the hospital, but it was planned.”
The plan was for the husband to shoot, but he was too weak, police said.
They received a call about the shooting at around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, with negotiators held hostage hours before the woman was taken into custody.
Meanwhile, surrounding rooms had to be cleaned in what police described as a “logistical nightmare”.
“Because the 11th floor is home to terminally ill patients, almost all the patients on that floor are on ventilators,” Young said.
He said they didn’t have enough space to evacuate the entire floor, but Gillander never left the room where the shooting took place.
“She never put the gun down, so she never specifically threatened to shoot any of us, but she never put the gun down,” Young said. “So we had to assume you knew if we were going to storm in, we didn’t communicate effectively that it could turn into a shootout.”
So they used a device to distract her so she could drop the gun.
“It’s called a flash bang used by the SWAT team,” Yang said. “They used it. It just made a loud noise like—pretty sure you’re familiar with that one. So they flew flash bangs to distract her, and luckily it worked.”
They also beat Gilland with a bean bag and she was eventually taken into custody.
“It’s a difficult situation, so her husband is terminally ill, so she’s already in a state of depression, just because her husband is terminally ill and knows the end is near,” Yang said.
She was at the Daytona Beach Police Department Saturday afternoon.
The police chief said she was being transported to the Volusia County Jail.
Gillander faces charges of first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
AdventHealth issued a statement Saturday afternoon regarding the shooting.
“We are devastated by the tragedy that unfolded at AdventHealth’s Daytona Beach campus today, and our prayers are with those affected. We thank the Daytona Beach Police Department for helping to keep our patients, team members and visitors safe, ’” AdventHealth said in a statement.
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